Chapter 672 – Equalization of Benefits

The first meeting was of course uneventful, and after both parties left on their own, Makins had some misgivings about today’s blackmail, “Alan, Whitehall asked us to come over and see if we could come to an agreement, rather than screw things up.”

“I understand that better than anyone.” Taking off the headband and pulling off the turban, Alan Wilson let out a long breath and said, “Speaking from Britain’s point of view, it’s not that we have to be unreasonable, but it’s the current environment that forces us to have to show our strength first even if we negotiate, or else the situation will develop even more in a direction that is unfavorable to us.”

“If the United States is willing to understand, I’m afraid that the Soviet Union will mess up.” Makins said worriedly.

“That would be a really courageous thing to do!” Alan Wilson laughed, “There is no neighbor of the Soviet Union that is not on the defensive against this behemoth, mark my words, there are no exceptions.”

Taking a step back, if the talks really don’t work out this time, one should really consider smashing the pot. The bottom line for Alan Wilson is that absolutely no UK should suffer at its own expense, and no one is better off if it doesn’t devolve into something unpredictable.

No country should want to receive the benefits that Britain has operated for such a long time without taking any cost at all. That’s why he didn’t hesitate to threaten Mossadegh with a coup.

Once Iran is in disarray, the big deal is that each supports their supporters to go to war, and anyway, China has had a civil war, Greece has had a civil war, and now North Korea’s civil war is still going on, and it’s attracting other countries to intervene.

So many countries are civil war, plus an Iran is nothing, as for how many people died that is the matter of Iran, which is Mossadegh’s own choice.

The meeting ended Allen Wilson nearly drilled into the telegraph room and elaborated on his blackmail strategy this time.

Britain has been the world’s hegemon for hundreds of years, even if the interests of oil are more than just Iran. This time because of the oil distribution and Iran’s conflict, on the United Kingdom is no effect, because in Iraq, Kuwait and even Saudi Arabia, Britain still has operating oil fields.

It can be argued that an embargo on Iran will not backfire on Britain itself, but it is a big problem for Iran. Alan Wilson’s statement to Mossadegh that Britain could embargo Iran for ten years if it wanted to is absolutely not a stretch, and at least for the moment Britain has the ability to do so.

London bit the bullet solely because it couldn’t afford to set that precedent; Iran pulls a nationalization campaign today without paying the price, and tomorrow some other country will follow suit.

Soon after, London received the details of the first negotiations with Mossadegh and immediately opened discussions.

Alan Wilson’s blackmail tactics, despite his desire to talk properly, were the first to be adopted and became the focus of discussion in Whitehall. Finally Norman Brooke forwarded the telegram, and his own suggestions, to Prime Minister Alderley.

In public opinion Britain was also showing solidarity with the negotiations in Basra, stating that Iran’s demands were so harsh that once London endorsed the Iranian move, the whole of Britain would be plunged into a crisis as the confiscation of important British assets caused an emulation of the move in various parts of the world.

The commissioner who was already in the Persian Gulf, Alan Wilson’s old boss Sir Barron, is running around, pressuring Iran on a diplomatic level, releasing the news that the confiscation is undoubtedly extremely bad behavior, but about the distribution of the oil proceeds, it is not impossible to talk.

“We are not being unreasonable, if Iran is not happy with the profits from the oil distribution, it is not impossible to talk. After all, times are progressing and Britain is not being unreasonable, but resorting to such behavior as confiscation reminds me of the Soviet Union’s moves after WWI. We are telling Tehran that confiscation as such is dangerous and very deadly.”

Alan Wilson, in the middle of his shouting in the face of the Arabs, expressed his fierce opposition to the act of confiscation.

But for all his outward righteous indignation, Alan Wilson was thinking of something else; he felt that Britain lacked an Al Jazeera. It’s so inconvenient to talk nowadays, and things would be so much simpler if there was an Al Jazeera to help.

“Put in Qatar or Bahrain?” Alan Wilson plotted the location of this mouthpiece, the latter-day Al Jazeera’s influence on the Arab region is very big.

The fundamental reason for being so influential is that there is money, and Al Jazeera is headquartered in Qatar.

Saudi Arabia in the eyes of the general public, has been considered to lie in the oil on the carefree country, but compared with Qatar, Saudi Arabia is nothing. The Saudis are poor in the eyes of the Qataris.

The Saudis haven’t been able to do anything about Qatar, and there’s no way to do it for the same reasons that benefit the Saudis today. The reason countries like Iraq, Syria and Egypt, where Saudi Arabia has since come to the forefront, are rich, and while Saudi Arabia can’t beat these traditional military powers of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has other powers behind it.

Although Saudi Arabia cannot beat them, they cannot beat the United States either. Saudi Arabia has not been able to do anything to Qatar for a similar reason, Qatar certainly can not beat the Saudis, but the Saudis also can not beat the countries that support Qatar.

Currently Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman are all protectorates in the name of Britain. Britain still has troops stationed in the Persian Gulf, so this time the divergence in oil profits with Iran led to a production cut, and the increased production from the oil fields of these countries hedged against the Iranian production cut.

Instead Iran’s blocked raw materials have led to the Iranian economy now being in a quagmire.

After shouting at Iran, Alan Wilson once again accompanied Princess Badia to visit religious leaders around the world. The level of enthusiasm simply made Princess Badia sigh, perhaps the Chancellor of the Kingdom of Iraq was no more than that.

“If the princess doesn’t mind, you can build a phallic seal and give it to me.” Alan Wilson tossed his turban and said with a great deal of complacency, “I can be a good friend to any monarchical country, in fact no matter if it’s Sanibar, Egypt or even Libya, I’m willing to serve their monarchs, there aren’t many monarchical countries left in today’s world, it’s even more important to be united with each other.”

“I’m sure all kingdoms love a friend like Mr. Allen.” Princess Badia pursed her lips and snickered, “But if it’s just a collection, it’s not like I can’t think of something. But what would Mr. Allen take in exchange? Our current oil proceeds, can we talk more?”

“Oh, honorable princess, this request is really difficult.” Alan Wilson narrowed his eyes deeply, “I’m sure there will be a more equitable distribution in the future, and we can even leave all the fees except for the patents to Iraq, but it’s not the time yet, it’s not that the UK is greedy, we need time to adjust as well. Iran is not incapable of communication between the two sides if they just talk about oil distribution, but they want confiscation, and that’s out of the question.”

Adjustment of distribution and confiscation, this is the fundamental difference between the two countries in this time, no one wants to be an internationalist, internationalists find the United States and the Soviet Union to go, now Britain is not even the world hegemony, talk about business, no one wants to let Britain lose for nothing.

Allen Wilson and Princess Badia exchanged views at the same time, Sir Barron is also constantly scurrying to the Persian Gulf countries for support, including but not limited to Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, these countries have a common feature, is that they are all British protectorates.

After pulling the strings on the protectorates, Sir Barron opened a visit to Saudi Arabia, saying nothing more than that Iran is Persian, and that if Saudi Arabia is very hasty in siding with Iran, it could backfire in the future.

There is also a Shia population in Saudi Arabia, making up a fifth of the population, and it is concentrated along the Persian Gulf coast.

To put it bluntly, Shiites numerically dominate the oil-producing areas of Saudi Arabia, and even if the Saudis hold themselves to be on good terms with the United States, when it comes to the distribution of oil, they should side with Britain.

Not to say that the former top boss is a two-timer, when Sir Barron conveyed the Saudi support by telegram. Alan Wilson had to make such an exclamation, mentioning that the Shiites really punched the Saudis in the soft underbelly.

The so-called absolute dominance of the Sunnis of the Religion of Peace is only a sham, and the Shiite population in the Persian Gulf is not at all weak. Otherwise Saudi Arabia wouldn’t have been stuck in the throat about the Shiite arc.

With the understanding of Saudi Arabia, a heavyweight player, and Britain’s firm support for the Arab countries against Israel, this fight for the Persian Gulf countries is considered a success.

The day before the opening of the second talks, his wife, Pamela Mountbatten, sent a telegram from Paris that Mountbatten had arrived in Cyprus to formally take over the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, with the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, likewise assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet.

“Although it may be embarrassing to say so, I have to say that Admiral Mountbatten taking over the Mediterranean Fleet has made me sit up a lot straighter without even realizing it.” Allen Wilson, one hand lifting his turban, took a hard drag on his cigar and addressed his colleagues to his left and right.

A few minutes later Mossadegh entered the conference room and the second negotiation began. Mossadegh’s anti-imperialist claims were also supported only by the Iranians. Around the entire Persian Gulf, Britain had taken care of the Arab countries. The Arab world was on Britain’s side!

Public opinion brought up by the major media agreed that the British were understandably jumping at Iran’s confiscatory move. Kuwait, along with Saudi Arabia and Iraq, argued that the confiscation was not in keeping with the spirit of the contract.

Though it is only a nominal triumvirate, it is still within Britain’s capacity to fully target an Iran. The Arab world, speaking in unison, has also overwhelmed the Iranians with its pressure on Iran.

Threatened with a coup d’état Allen Wilson did not change his mind, firmly stated that confiscation on all the consequences caused by the surrounding oil-producing countries have been understood, “the Arabs are happy and bad, increase production in exchange for more foreign exchange, all thanks to Iran.”

Mossadegh was silent for a long time, and even listened for a while to Alan Wilson my father-in-law Mountbatten how to how words, spoke again, “oil profits Britain and Iran one country half.”

“I think this request is excessive!” Allen Wilson a tactical backward, commented in a grave tone.