Qualified interpreters of the Iranian scene have many times noted the fanatical obsession of the great mass of Iranians with assertion of their independence, and predicted that no amount of hardship resulting from the dispute with Britain and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company would shake their faith in Premier Mossadegh and his nationalization campaign.

Preliminary counting of national election ballots bears them out. Mossadegh’s party has won, by Teheran report, more seats in the capital alone than it previously held in the whole country. The election is turning out to be a vote of confidence in extreme measures and a blow to hopes that it might encourage those favoring a line of action permitting enough give-and-take to permit a settlement of the dispute.

Iran’s intemperate action has made trouble for herself. It has made trouble for others, too, her example inspiring demands which are a growing worry to oil producers throughout the Middle East. Even fifty-fifty division of profits is not enough now, fair as such an arrangement seems to be.

Profit rates may seem less important than production, given the importance of Middle Eastern output, but a free hand in management is vital, and that is being increasingly threatened.