What is sauce for Britain’s Labor government apparently isn’t sauce for the government of Iran. The Labor regime of Clement Attlee has adapted a dangerous program of nationalization — it has nationalized coal, finance and transportation and is in the process of nationalizing the steel industry. But what the Labor government does in Britain it doesn’t want other nations to do.

The British government is raising a storm of protest against the nationalization by Iran of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. The British government bought into the company in 1914 and now owns $31,500,000 of the company’s $56,385,000,000 common stock.

Britain has made a strong protest against the vote in the Iranian parliament to nationalize the rich oil concession. The British government is considering “what steps should follow.” The protest note pointed out that Iran’s contract with the oil company cannot be legally terminated until 1993. Iran’s action, the British protested, was one-sided. [Quote was from a March 15th AP article, not Britain]

Mr. Attle and his Socialist associates can view what nationalization is like in another country, since the British government has an investment of $31,500,000 in Iranian oil. But, to nationalize industry at home — that seems an act of another color. The stockholders of British industry must have felt the same, when their holdings were taken over by the government of Britain, as the government now feels when Iran does likewise. But the British Labor government didn’t hesitate to carry out its program of supplanting private endeavor with the state. Even when its first experiments proved considerably less than successful, Mr. Attlee’s regime continued the program of nationalization.

We don’t know much about diplomatic language; nor are we versed in the way the Iranians reply to protests. But one answer by Iran might be suggested and this is it: Look who’s talking.