S/PV.30 Security Council

As the Secretary-General received the letters from the representative for the USSR and from the representative from Iran only this morning and as he has had no time ta circularize these letters ta members of the Council and thus ta enable them ta study their contents, 1 propose that this meeting be adjourned until tomorrow at eIeven o'dock. The meeting rose at Il.45 a.m. THIRTIETH MEETING Held at Hunter Gollege, New York, on Thursday, 4 April 1946, at Il a.m. President: Mr. Quo Tai-chi (China). Present: The representatives of the following cOUlltries: Australi,a, Brazil, China, Egypt, France,..Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom, United States of America. Présents: Australie, Mexique, Etats-Unis 20. Provisionai agenda (document 5/27) 20. 1. Adoption of the agenda. 1. 2. (a) Letter dated 18 March 1946 from the representative of Iran addressed ta the Secretary-General, and letter dated 18 March 1946 from the representative of Iran addressed to the President of the Security Council (document S/15).1 2. 1 Voir Première nexe 21. Adoption of the agenda The agenda was adopted. 22. Continuation of tbe discussion on the Iranian question A.t the invitation of the President, Mr. Hussein Ala, representative of Iran, took his place at the Seè.urity Council table. Mr.~YRNES (United States of America): desire ta offer·the following draft resolution for the consideration Q!the Council: "The Security Council, "Taking note of the statements by the Iranian representative that the Iranian appeal to the Council arises from the presence of USSR troops in Iran and their continued presenœ there beyond the date stipulated for their withdrawal in the Tri-partite Treaty of 29 January 19421 ; "Taking note of the replies dated 3 April the Govemmentof the Union of Soviet Soci!ÙÏS~ Republics and the Iranian Govemment pursuant to the request of the Secretary-General for inforlIlation as to thestate ofthe negotiations between the two Governments and as ta whether the withdrawal of USSR troops {rom Iran is conditionaI upon agreement on othersubjects; cCA.nd in particular taking note of and relying upon the assurances of'the USSR Govemment: At that time Iconcluded my. statement with these words: "if the Council could obtain more adequate and exact information regarding·the status of the negotiations between the USSR Governmentand the Iranian Government, the Council might be able to. satisfy itself that the 'assurances of the USSR Goverilment as to the prompt withdrawal of troops from Iran are in fact for allpractical purposes unconditional. In that event, there might he no need for the Council to go into the substantive issues, provided it re- ~erved~he right of both parties to have the case unmediately taken up by the Council should there he any.developments which·threatened to retr."':! the withdrawal of troops." The draft resolution 1 have DOW offered has been drafted. pursuant to·the statement 1· then Mr. HASSAN Pasha (Egypt): 1 want to fine the position of the Egyptian delegation concerning this question, since the Egyptian motion was the first to be adopted. When 1 addressed the Councitat one of previous meetings, 1 said in substance that San Francisco Charter had given to the big Powers, in spite of the opposition of others, great advantages and privileges, and 1 added that hoped that they would use them wisely. 1 am glad to see that at our fust test the Powers have seen eye to eye with the smaller nations and have allowed Iran to state her case boldly. Secondly,the present cIraft resolution, as l it now, has at least the great merit of making it clear that the doors of this Council remain open at any time for Iran in case no agreement is reached. 1 want to endorse this resolution. Howevet, let us not forget that the primary role of this Council is to promote peace'through conciliation. 1 think we should take note of that and give credit to the big Powers. 1 think tao that the USSR's last gesture complying with' the decision of this Council should be commended. It is hoped that this question will be settled amicably.We hope that the world at large knows' by now that this body, which is the orny instrument of pea<:e, is living and viable. 1 hope that the attitude of the C:::ouncilhas proved it and will prove it again and again. Mr. VELLOSO (Brazil) (translated trom French' : 1 agree with Mr. Byrnes's proposal. The Security Council did its duty in acceding to Iran's request and inviting her representative to explain to the Council the situation of which we areall aware. The' Council asked the two parties concemed, Iran and the USSR, for the additional information wJJ.ich it needed to form its opinion. The formation ïn question concerned the withdrawal of USSR troopsfrom the territory of Iran,and the negotiations in ·progress at Teheran between the USSR. and Iranian Gdvernments. The reply of the USSR, or at least thelast part of it, was categorical.The USSR note tothe Secretary-Generalstated that there was no connexion .between thesenegotiations·and the withdrawal of troops. Iran's reply was less definite but its representative subsequently statedthat the Iranian Govemment was disposed, subject tocertain condi- La une échéant, je sincèrement. Mr. Byrnes's proposal is an attempt in this direction, which in no way prejudices the Council's final decision. As 1 said at the beginning, 1 support it most sincere1y. Sir (traduit projet au reconnaissant pour à accord. du le manifesté ces aucun des Sir Alexander CADOGAN (United Kingdom) : 1 too, support the draft resolution which is now before the Council, and 1 think that the Council must feel grateful to the representative of the United States for the valuable contribution he has made towards reaching an agreement. It is satisfactory that we have received from the USSR Government assurances on the particular point on which the Council showed considerable concern. In these circumstances, 1 think there can be no doubt that the Council may weil rest content to watch the implementation of the assurances which it has now received. The withdrawal of USSR forces from Iran has apparently begun, and we have a definite promise from the USSR Government that that withdrawal will be completed by a fixed date. We also have the very important further assurance that that withdrawal is not connected with other matters. Le toire avons' messe date très d'autres Je nous vers cultés 1 believe that if this resolution is adopted, we may today be taking a first step towardsa peaceable and amicable settlement of these difficulties which have been brought before the Council. The Council has had a heavy responsibility in this matter which it mus~ continue to carry for a little while yet, and what will, 1 hope, be accomplished·this morning will be a good example and contribute to a satisfactory and lasting settlement of the matters before this Council. f~il responsabilité, encore accomplirons un satisfaisant Conseil. Mr.LANGE (Poland): The Government of M. the Republic of Poland supports and will support Le any step which leads to international understand~ appuie' ing, particularly to understanding between the am.ener gr~~t Powers. Our de!egation has acted in this une spmt througho]lt the present meeting of the délégation Security Council. débats The Polish representative is one of ihemem- . Le bers.of this Council, elected for a period of tîme. membres 1 think that eaCh of the elected members of the minée. Council not OIÙ.y representshis·own.country, but' Conseil, has, by virtue of his being elected by the Assembly, pays, a mandate from an the United Nations, a mantion date toact in the interest of th,;;r;,l;;ITltenance and des. Nations preservation of peace throughou'çme world' I ~~ns~~~~dee~ni~r~aconservation Thefirst. is tb->ti:heUnited. Nations, thanks to. theSecurityCouncll, which is its permanent. (\fga.l1 responsibleatall times for the maintenance -ofpeace, hasin tbis case truly done its duty, namely, to act asconciliator in helping nàt:ons which aremembers of t1lè international community .ta smooth 'out. any differences opinion wlûch may ariae bètween th~m. 1 My second conclusion is that the pointiS we have had to settle are mainly differences of opinion in matters of procedure, and we :have succeeded in settling them; that is a very important point and'a lesson for the future. In that aIso we have helpd :0 show the value of int~national solutions for diakult problems. The V/orld has not yet fully recovered from the war; it is faced with a veritable tangle of political, economic and moral problems. If left to individual initiative, these problems wocld be difficult ta solve; it would not be easy to remove the deep.. seated causes of the difficulties which arise between nations; 1 am convinced tbat there is no other means of solving these problems than the international way, the way of the United Nations. moins possible rageant We have just shown - or at least 1 hope sa - that this kind of solu2Ïon is possible, and nothing could be more encouraging for pubJi.c opinion than that. [' est décision ordonné seignements afin en justice. Colonel' HODGSON (Aastralia): The principle for which Australia stands is that the Council shouId not take any decision without careful, orderly and methodical ~aminaiion of an the facts and information relating ta a dispute in order that it should be able to reach a just and impartial decision, acting as a high. judicial tribunal would act. faire l'heure soumise. dure une la From the outsetin this case we have been confronted with two conflicting statements. At the moment, we still have only one motion before the Council,.a procedural question of postponement. Or do we not have, sinee we voted against Mr. Gromyko's proposal for an adjournment until 10 April? The only reason we have the rep-- resentative of Iran ~;.t the table is to discuss the procedural question of pœtponement. n~r laquelle table procédure Now we have before us a positive draftresolution within· Chapter VI of the Charter relating ta the pacific settlement of disputes. Now here îs the point: before any of the measures in Chape ter VI can be considered by th~ Council, or a pastponement granted, or even before a dispute can be dropped, in fa<;t,before any der~ 'on at aIl is taken, we have to ascertain the fa' ïnce the casehas been admitted to the agenda.. soumis pacifique suivante: une accorder pouvoir laissFr tomber de assurer :_.Iscrite Our ;abject, which the Council did not achieve in London and has not achieved here, wa.s to adopt appropriate. procedure for. this .and for Londres une In this case, we should ha.:ve insisted on obtaining alI the facts and documentary proof. We should have coped with difficulties such as that involving the question as to who, in the,matter of a dispute, is entitled to vote. We shalI have to face up to them sooner or later, and surely we should have faced up to them at the outset of this, our continuous session. The Australian delegation at the outset asked for an or-derly investigation, and one which would not cause undue àelay or postpoJl~ment, but would facilitate a finding. Turning ta this specifie case, we have had advanced m. support of this resolution considerations of bringing nations together, of promoting better relations between neighbours. On the other hand, questions of public faith in the Securit.y Council and the principle that the integrity and independence of small nations will be upheld are of paramount importance. Let us look at the facts of the case impartially and judicially. There are really two questions at issue, one of which was brought before,the Councilin London, namely, interference in the internal affàirs of Iran by USSR forces, agents and officials. That was temporarily àisposed of by the resolution of 30 Januaryl calling on the parties to negotiate. The Iranian representative has reported that these negotiations have been fruitless. Consequently, he asked that they be investigated together with the new element, namely, the presence of USSR troops in Iran after 2 March l;,"l violation of the Tri-partite Treaty of 1942. What has happened? We have here before us a draft resolution dealing purely with the withdrawal of troops. Not a word about the charge laid previously and which is still on our agenda, of intederence by USSR troops and agents in the internaI affairs of Iran. That problem has been left completely unresolved. lfind nowhere in the evidence an assurance on the question of Azerbaijan. This resolution is, in, fact, ar.\ interpretative assurance that the USSR will withëlraw its troops so that Iran can negotiate the other questions in acccrdance with its own domestîc·la.w. moment, de nant Secondly, we had not at any time complete statements on the merits of the case, no faets or information from other interested parties. Thirdly, we deprecate the fact that the representative of the USSR left the douncil during discussions of procedural questioJ:?s and before the facts or merits of the case were even discussed, thus prejudichî.g the work, the efficiency and the authority of the Council. le au cédure, l'affaire aient été discutés, aux Conseil. Fourthly, the method adopted in this case, namely, that of arrangements entered into outside the Council, to which, even though they were tenned procedural, the Australian representative objected, tended in our opinion to weaken the authority and prestige of the Council in the eyes of the world and must influence its future procedure. cette en prétendait restreints et l'Australie, avis aux la This case was a challenge to the Security Council, and in our opinion the Coulicil did not . meet it. For these reasons, and above ail because the Council did nat insist on a complete investigation and examination of all the facts before reaching the decision now bdore us in this reso- Jution, the Australian delegation will refrain from voting on it, and reserves its right on 6 Mayor before that date to caU for a complete ÏIrvestigation, if the circumstances so warrant, of all the factors relating to this case of Iran. sécurité relevé. parce à les est tion de réclamer, tances tous i' rait cette a toute Je minutie, hollandais; pas ait aurait application nous même Nous Mr. VAN KLEFFEN8 (Netherlands): The Australian representative wanted to have a very. full documentation of this case, to discuss the question as to who has the right to vote and generaUy to go Înto the whole matter in the most thorough manner. 1 can very weIl appreciate that point of view. Thoroughness, 1 think, is a Dutch characteristic also, but 1 personally do not think that in our discussions the Council omitted, and much less evaded, any point which it should have tackled in order to fulfil its duty under the Charter. 1 trust that we shall always continue to do the same, with no shirkingof difficulties. We must face them square1y. Now, with regard to the cIraft resolution presented by the representative of the United States of America, w. have yesterday had the written statements of th.~ parties to which the Iranian representative added ora11y another very important statement. These together, 1think, enable us to adopt tbis resolution and 1want to express my al-preciation of the contribution made by the Secretary of State of the United States by proposing it.

1 believe there are no more speakers, and 1 should like to make a few remarks as representativé of China. Eefore 1 proceed, should like to make' just one observation on what my Austl'alian colleagùe has said in regard ta executive or private meetings. - l think, in principle, many members of the Council will not favour having frequent private meetings and 1 quite appreciate my Australian colleague's position in view of the attitude bis Govemment has taken upon this question. But think the very grea~ majority of t.h.e members of the Council are of the opinion that executive meetings, held with moderation and discussion, areconducive to the smoothconduct of the Council's affairs. Executive meetings were. held primarily for .. informaI exchanges of views, but no decisions were made at them. However, the)' proved instrumental in bringing about a similarity of views which helped to deternÙDe the course to be pursued in handIing the discussionbefore the Council. We have found the last two private meetings which we have held very helpful in smoothing out differences which were largely, but not entirely, concemed with procedural matters. 1 believe that private meetings can usefully be held, pro- "ided that we confine them to the necessary occasions. On the pasttwo occasions they. certainly have heIped to bringabout the happy course .of events which, as a matter of fact, you have a1rêady witnessed in this meeting. As our other colleague pointed out, there nothing in the Charter agaïnstprivate meetings nor anything laying clown.that .aIl meetings the· CouncH should·. be .he1d in public.. 1 make thûrremark in order to avoid any misunderstanding on the paIt of the public that their confidence in .the· Council need .be affected if we do occasionally hold a private meeting. We have aIso taken note of the Iranian representative's statement that he does not now intend to press the question further in the Council in view of the assurance of the USSR in regard to the withdrawal of USSR troops from bis country. 1think that the effort of the Council in regard to the Iranian question has thus met with success. It has contributed, to the fulfilment of one of the primary functions or duties of the United Nations, name1y, the bringing about, by pacifie means and in cOIÛormity with t~e principles of justice and law, of the adjustment of disputes or situations among its Members. The spirit of mutual concession on the part of both parties in this case is indicative of their earnest desire to uphold the plmciples of the Charter and ta maintain friendly relations among States. The Council, in accordance with the draft . resolution before us, remains seized of the matter. 1 am sure that to whatever date any further discussion of this case is deferred, we may hopefully expect a situation in which the two parties in the mean1:ÎJ.lle will have arrived at an agreement, thus making further discussion by the Council of the Iranian case unnecessary. Now we have the draft resolution submitted by Mr. Byrnes before us: sion nous problème sujet iranien retirées. reprendre l'autorité nous a. adopté l'opinion le adressée une seront cinq le promesse comme The resolution was adopted by 9 VOtes. Ml'. ALA (Iran): The fundamerital problem placed before us regarding these disputes was the desire of.the Iranian people ta have all foreign troops remo"ed un.conditionaIly from their territory and thus to regain the freedom of action and authority of their Government. As this supreme tribunal to which we appealed for justice has taken the view that the assurance given by the representative of the USSR in bis letter of yesterday ta the Secretary-General is a pledge that all USSR troops will be evacuated unconditionally within a period of five or six ,weeks, at the_Iatt".st by 6 May 1946, the people ùf Iran willlikewise accept this pledge as sucb. an u.nconditional assurance. A solution having been found on the question of the withdrawal of the USSR troops, my Government is prepared, as 1 said yesterday, to refrain from pressing at this time for consideration of the dispute regarding interference in the internal affairs of Iran, which was fust brought before the Security Couneil in London, in the hope that, with the promise to withdraw the troops and the evacuatio~ of Iran, all interferenee in the internal affairs of my country may cease. It is understood, of course, that both the question of withdrawal of troops and the question of interference will remain on the agenda of the Security Council to be brought up for consideration at any time. We appreciate the assurance given by the Council that the matters which we have brought here will remain of continuing eoncem. It is our hope that it will be unnecessary fOi us to come again before you mconnexion with chese questions, but if that should prove necessary, we shall come with full faith and confidence. The firmness ..and courage with which the Council has dealt with these disputes and the spirit of good will and patient understanding which have characteri'led your consideration of these matters have already given a feeling of confidence to aU the small nations - small, but many of them, like mine, though militarily weak, great and strong in culture and in the service. which they have rendered to mankind throughout their thousands ofyears of independént existence. If 1 may presume to saythis, the results achieved here with reference to these disputes have a significance of permanent value, a significance that goes far beyond the immediate interests of the Government of Iran. Iran has received assurances and positive results through the United Nations which it could not have achieved by itself. This is the foundation upon which the hopes of the future must rest, and may 1, in conc111sion, again thank the members of thïs Council. ! c~nnot refrain from expressing the gratitude of our people to the people and Government 1"11'. ]BYRNES (United States of America): 1 wish to express my appreciation to the Council for having adopted the resolution 1 have submitted. The Coulllcilis in its infancy. It has not yet had the opportumty to hear the report [rom the Committee of Experts whîch is drafting the mIes of procedure. Whatever report may be made by that Committee, 1 hope the CouIlcil may a1ways have in mind that mIes of procedure are but tàe means to enable the Coûncil to accomplish the purposes of the Charter. We must not be slaves ta any particular method of accomplishing the objective of the Charter. The Charter provides in its veryfirst article that the purpose of the Organization is: <{to bring about, by peaceful meam, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead ta a breach of the peace". It then pFOvides in the fourth paragraph of the first article that the 01'- ganization shall "... be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these eommon endsu previously recited: pré~enté considéreret ne complir les fins nous ponr Article, que le " aux tionale, rends susceptibles EYe l'Article "êtFe des précédemment. In this matter, last week, the Council unanimously fonowed t..he method of submitting an inquiry through the Secretary-General to the Govemment of Iran and to the Government of the USSR through their representatives. We might have provided for an investigation and sent an individual or a committee to Iran to report at sorne distant date, and distant date it , would have had to be. The Council pursued another course, which resulted tOday in the United Nations being truly a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of eommon ends. le consiste ment général, l'intennédiaÏre pu ou de certainement Le abouti nisation nisent buts l am happy ta hear the representative for Iran say that in view of the action taken by the Council he asks for no action upon tt'1e st?t~ment made in bis letter with reference to interference in the government of Iran by USSR agents. Mter all, the withdrawal of troops without condition is the O1Ùy sane method of disposing of any question of interfereIice in the government of Iran. l'Iran le la concerne dans retrait méthode d'intervention de l'Iran. That, in the opinion of the Couneil, has been aeeomplished, and 1 know that every member will be happy, regard1ess of the method pursued, that we haveaccomplished the purpose. Cela, je heureux, employée,

There is n~ other item on the agenda for today. . Le plus The meeting rose al 12.45 p.m. TMIRTY-FIIST MEETING Held at Hunter College, New York, on Tuesday, 9 April 1946, at 3 p.m. President: Ml'. QUQ Tai-chi (China). Present: The representatives of the following countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Union of .Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom, United States of America. 23. Provisional agenda (documentS/31) 1... Ad~tion of theagend.a. 2.- Report of the Chairmanof the Committee of Experts of the Security Coùncil with regard tô theprovisional rules of procedure (docu~ ment 8/29). 24. "Adoption of the agenda 25•. Oraft .prgvisioncd rules of procedure . as revised by theCommittee of Experts At .the invitation ofthe President,Mr. Liang, Chairmanofthe Committee of Experts, toùkhis seat at the Council table.

1should like to ask Ml'. Liang whether,in addition to the ongmal report submitted to the Council aIld distributed by the Sec~ retary~GeneJ;'al, he h;t..s any other observations to makebefore weptoceed to examine.the P.foposed ru1~of. procedure.· Mr. LIANG (Chairman of the Committee of Experts) : 1 thank the President for the privilege of making a few additionaIremarks. The rules now reconunended by the Committee ofExperts are a prod.:.1ct of the Committee's work in London embodied in document S/61 and the wor~ofthe Committee in New"York. The com- .parlsPn is not, .. tlierefore, between the two stages oftheCc.>mmittee's work, but bètweenthe recom~ ~SeeOfficial Rt!cordsof tht! St!curiL" Council, FÎrsi:Year. FirstSçries.SupplementNo. 2. Annex la.