In an unprecedented public appeal to Premier Mossadegh, the Parliament and the people of Iran, Secretary of State Acheson [Dean Acheson] has asked reconsideration of the rejection of the joint proposal by President Truman and British Prime Minister Churchill for settlement of the Anglo-Iranian oil dispute. [Harry Truman and Winston Churchill]

The appeal is designed to prevent Iran from committing national suicide. Playing off the United States against Britain and attempting to exploit differences between Russia and the West can only lead to disaster for Iran. The Communists are poised to seize Iran, either through infiltration or by sudden coup, whenever they feel the time is right.

Acheson has made it clear that the American offer of a $10,000,000 grant is intended not as a bribe, but to help Iran avert an economic collapse until oil revenues begin to come in again. The suggestion that the entire controversy be submitted to the International Court of Justice, which recently ruled in favor of Iran, can scarcely be interpreted as partial.

If Mossadegh is seeking an honorable way out of the predicament into which he has led his nation, the Acheson appeal shows that way. If not, it is hoped that the Parliament will reassert itself before it is too late. More than the loss of oil to the West is involved, for the alternative to settlement could easily be slavery for all of the people of Iran.