The best that can be said about our twin headaches, Korea and Iran, is that they could be worse. The absence of more bad news amounts in these sad situations to good news.

We have been warned so long about dire possibilities that any hint they might not come about is welcome.

Premier Mossadegh of Iran has written President Truman in a bid for American support which does not accept the proposal of mediation by the United States between Iran and Great Britain. But so far the moves in Iran have been short of the final break which might wipe Iran off the map as the British move into one part and Soviet Russia into the rest. Such is the possibility held out in treaty and precedent. [In July, Harry Truman offered to send Averell Harriman to Tehran. Mossadegh accepted.]

Russia has an agreement to enter Iran if any other invader does—and if British troops drop into aid their compatriots in the oil field, then the split of Iran could be expected. Up until this noon, however, no British action of such gravity had ensued.

It is a matter of concern, however, why Britain is pulling out technicians. It would appear quite probable that Russia would offer men to take their places—and this sort of Communist infiltration could be just as deadly to Iran in the long run as one by guns.

On the Korean issue, the good news is that the Soviet Union has now officially suggested armistice terms limited strictly to military questions. That should mean, if words longer have meaning, that a truce can be applied without settling Formosa [Taiwan] or other Pacific questions first. This is what the United States and the United Nations have proposed for months. If Moscow really has come around to that view, a chance to stop the fighting appears near.