THE cheerful speculation that the Iranian oil dispute was about to be resolved now seems to have been more happy talk. Once again Mossadegh has balked over the question of compensation for the expropriated property of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. and prospects of a settlement now are about as gloomy as they ever have been.

This, of course, keeps the drama running according to the script written by the suicide-bent extremists—including the lunatic-fringe Moslem fanatics and the powerful, sinister Tudeh (Communist) Party.

Chaos and anarchy are the wines both these elements thirst for, and both are willing to take their chances with each other as soon as the last traces of sanity and decency have been erased from their homeland.

Despite the vote of confidence he just blackmailed out of the Majlis (lower house of parliament), Mossadegh turns out to be a bankrupt leader, afraid to go ahead and unable to stand still. [How was it blackmail?]

For the sake of Iran and the western world we’d like to see a Persian prime minister who, with courage and steadfast purpose, could reach a settlement in which both sides would find justice.