British Foreign Policy Concerning Oil Interests in Iran, 1946: Traditional Ideas and the Search for New Policy Approaches

The frontier of International Relations 5

Abstract

This article analyses policies considered within the British government in 1946 on two issues concerning Iranian oil—a new oil concession and a labour dispute against the British Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC)—to investigate how Britain tried to secure access to oil immediately after World War II.
Within the process of policy definition surrounding these two issues, it is possible to see both a search for new policy approaches and traditional ideas. In relation to these two issues, the British search for new policy approaches intended a new form of relations with the United States and Iran. At the same time, traditional ideas retained currency within British thinking and had a great impact on the policy definition process.
Britain intended co-operation with the United States to confront the potential threat of the U. S. S. R. in the process of obtaining a new Iranian oil concession. The Anglo-American co-operation which Britain aimed at, however, was one that would damage neither her independence nor her leadership position in the region, as Britain still perceived Iranian international relations within the traditional framework of spheres of influence in which Britain and the U. S. S. R. were the main actors. Further, as Britain regarded the role of the United States as no more than supplemental, rather than making use of the framework of Anglo-American co-operation in the labour dispute against the AIOC, Britain gradually inclined to unilateral policies employing bare power.
On relations with Iran, the British government on the one hand required the AIOC to give Iranian employees “equal treatment” with the British. On the other hand, plans for a joint Anglo-Iranian company symbolising “equal partnership” were soon rejected when she began discussions for the acquisition of a new oil concession. These apparently inconsistent attitudes can be explained by considering Britain's true intentions regarding equality. The real intention behind Britain's insistence on equal treatment by the AIOC was for the purpose of retaining the existing concession which had made it possible for Britain to secure access to oil. The equality pursued by Britain did not change the existing framework when it came to new concessions. Furthermore, the traditional image of relations with Iran can be seen in the despatch of an army brigade to Iraq and plans for direct involvement in the internal affairs of Iran.
It should not be overlooked that Britain was already searching for new policy approaches immediately after WWII. However, traditional ideas prevented her from implementing policies that would have brought about a drastic change in the international relations surrounding Iranian oil.