HC Deb 11 February 1959 vol 599 cc1177-8
38. Mr. G. Brown

asked the Minister of Defence whether he will make a statement on his recent official visit to Persia.

Mr. Sandys

On my way back from attending a Meeting of the Council of the Bagdad Pact at Karachi, I stopped off in Persia for two days, at the invitation of H.M. Ambassador. During my stay in Teheran, I had the honour to be received by His Imperial Majesty the Shah and I had talks with the Persian Prime Minister and other Ministers.

Mr. Brown

Would the Minister care to take us into his confidence enough to tell us what he was talking about? The point of asking the Question was that we were interested in the talks that he had, the subjects that they were on and what commitments, if any, flowed from them. Is it true that the Prime Minister of Persia was the one who made most criticisms at the Karachi meeting about the inadequacies of the Pact, and did the Minister enter into any discussions or commitments on that side when he was in Persia?

Mr. Sandys

I do not think it would be a breach of confidence if I said that there is no truth whatsoever in the suggestion that complaints were made at the Karachi meeting by the Persian Government about the inadequacy of the Pact. The conversations which I had were, naturally, confidential, but I think I can tell the House that we discussed generally the international situation.

Mr. Bevan

Did the right hon. Gentleman discuss at all the new headquarters for the Bagdad Pact? Is it going to be Teheran? If so, is he going to change the name, or is he going to put the new headquarters on wheels?

Mr. Sandys

The new headquarters is already established in Ankara.

Mr. Bevan

Is it the Ankara Pact now?