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MILLER: In Iran, it was shah’s law. The Iranian legal system was a mixture of Zoroastrian principles with Islamic and European additions. At that time, 1962, the entire legal system under Reza Shah had been codified into a European structure of law, although the code incorporated family law principles from the Sharia. There were exceptions such as the movement in the direction of equal rights for women. It was an evolving legal system, and the Justice Ministry, judges were going on exchanges in Europe and the United States, and bringing back ideas that were changing the nature of Iranian justice. Many of the law makers, for example, from the National Front were educated in the West, and helped pass laws that were more democratic in character. So the legal system was alive, formally a mixture of Zoroastrian, Islamic and Western law, and evolving, but it was clearly shah-dominated and not a rule of law. Q: What about, say in foreign policy – I know from the Saudi perspective when I was in Bahrain we covered the crucial state as well as all the Gulf states except Kuwait. There was real concern about the shah – well, the Persians are moving in. They didn’t like the name Persian they much preferred it to be called Arabian Gulf. Was this an expansionist – from the Tehran point of view how did we do? MILLER: The only issues that were faintly expansionist – of course the Iranians didn’t regard them as expansionist, really, but they had no doubt about who owned the disputed islands lesser tombs and larger tombs, which are only dots in the Gulf. They basically scoffed the notion that the Persian Gulf could be referred to the Arabian Gulf. Q: In Iran, in Bahrain, there was a feeling that this is very typically Middle Eastern, that there was a plot to infiltrate all sorts of Iranian workers so that eventually they would take over the island of Bahrain. MILLER: Well, certainly the oil workers throughout the Gulf were and are heavily populated by Iranians. They knew how to do it, but no, there certainly there wasn’t a plot that I was aware of. It was just normal historical pressures of peoples in an area where boundaries come together. Q: As you were part of the political section, was there any tension between the political section and the CIA station there on reporting, and all that? MILLER: Yes, constantly. This was a normal feature of the time in all significant embassies. CIA had large stations, many of their officers were buried in the political sections, and the distinction between assets and contacts was – when it became an issue, would be decided by the ambassador. I had many contacts that they wanted to have as assets, and there were occasions when I went to Julius Holmes and said, “You know, this absolutely crazy. They don’t need to do this.” He always supported me. Q: Wasn’t there, just in the bureaucratic sense – there was pressure on the CIA officers to sign up as many assets, whether it made any real sense or not. I mean, they wanted to 54
show that they were … MILLER: No, I don’t think so, not in Iran, because, on the whole, they were very good. The CIA had superb people that I have kept in touch with over the years from that time, who I still see now, such as George Cave. Q: I just know the name. MILLER: He was their number one Iranian expert, and probably still is, even in retirement. He was very sensible, spoke excellent Persian and in fact was a Muslim. Yatsevich did the police jobs himself. He worked with the shah to the extent Julius Holmes permitted it, and worked closely with the chief of the secret police, Timur Bakhtiar, later Pakrahvan. Yatsevich had a circle of friends at the shah’s court. He was the designated person to do that. He liked being at court anyway. In reflection, I look on Julius Holmes as a super-ambassador, almost a viceroy. In this circumstance, and time he had that kind of power and influence, because both Washington, and the shah understood that, was a viable style and Kennedy made clear that Holmes had his personal support. Holmes knew Johnson, too, pretty well and the shah and his entourage understood that reality. Q: Were there any, while you were there, any visits, by president, the vice president, or… MILLER: Kennedy didn’t come. Of course, he died in ’63. No, he didn’t come, but Bobby did, and Justice Douglas, and a lot of the people from the NSC – Bill Polk, I don’t know if you know that name. Q: Well, I know the name, but … MILLER: Bob Komer, with DOD (Department of Defense). So the key players in Washington came frequently, and Johnson came, and I was one of the control officers for Johnson’s visit. Q: First, how did Bobby Kennedy visit and then we’ll talk about the Johnson visit. MILLER: Well, he wanted to go to visit the tribes. He went to the tribes. He had a message from the shah, but his interest was Justice Douglas-driven. Douglas had great admiration for the Bakhtiari when he visited. Bobby Kennedy was a hero to many Iranian democratic nationalists – particularly whose who studied in America. Q: How about Johnson, when he came? MILLER: Johnson was spectacular. He came when he was vice president, after visiting Pakistan where he was given a white camel, something he mentioned several times with some irony, but he was definitely liked. He came with an entourage – Lady Bird, Lynda 55
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The Association for Diplomatic Stud
Page 3 and 4: Investigative committee Oversight C
Page 5 and 6: Q: Could you tell me when and where
Page 7 and 8: in Europe and the explosion of New
Page 9 and 10: of 98. He was my English teacher ju
Page 11 and 12: MILLER: He was a monster. He was se
Page 13 and 14: Q: Well, you graduated in ’53. Ho
Page 15 and 16: structure. Oxford and Cambridge was
Page 17 and 18: situation, particularly, attitudes
Page 19 and 20: vacations in between semesters, eig
Page 21 and 22: student. I was returning from a tra
Page 23 and 24: Q: Did you go on to get your PhD? M
Page 25 and 26: Q: I would think so. *** Okay, toda
Page 27 and 28: us in his car and lent us some mone
Page 29 and 30: its history and was a patriot in th
Page 31 and 32: MILLER: The Shah was never accepted
Page 33 and 34: Q: Well, now let’s talk about the
Page 35 and 36: Young and his archaeologist son, T.
Page 37 and 38: Q: Great opener isn’t it … MILL
Page 39 and 40: “What have you got in the village
Page 41 and 42: highly cultured city with a thousan
Page 43 and 44: MILLER: The hierarchy of power was
Page 45 and 46: and along the Persian Gulf there we
Page 47 and 48: and its independence despite the 19
Page 49 and 50: MILLER: Very ephemeral. It’s only
Page 51 and 52: Q: Well, then maybe we should move
Page 53: he had been chief of protocol, amon
Page 57 and 58: sustain his absolutism. That was my
Page 59 and 60: technical assistance and the secret
Page 61 and 62: streets. This astounded the nationa
Page 63 and 64: were the most important, and Bob Ko
Page 65 and 66: Symington was one of the key people
Page 67 and 68: a modern state. One could see some
Page 69 and 70: the difficulties arose was in the n
Page 71 and 72: That was the policy when I arrived.
Page 73 and 74: Q: Was the question of authority he
Page 75 and 76: no policy role, I thought that I re
Page 77 and 78: fierce guardian secretary, Martha,
Page 79 and 80: It is a mark of the Senate of this
Page 81 and 82: Today is the 12 th of December, 200
Page 83 and 84: smaller than they are now. Everyone
Page 85 and 86: of everyone. These views were on th
Page 87 and 88: danger. Cutting people down to size
Page 89 and 90: very carefully, and with great plea
Page 91 and 92: Cooper retires and I go as Chief of
Page 93 and 94: MILLER: Some, say they're taking it
Page 95 and 96: new Select Committee had to go thro
Page 97 and 98: MILLER: The Hoover people were stil
Page 99 and 100: Q: Who? MILLER: Sam Giancana, a mob
Page 101 and 102: whole, the CIA did its duty. In any
Page 103 and 104: was doing to me and I set the rules
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MILLER: They were a right-wing terr
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tens of billions of dollars in the
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very difficult then and, of course,
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problems with senators or the staff
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MILLER: The most important informat
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But now, that gap has disappeared f
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national security changed. National
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That's the value of Fletcher, and,
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know this June the Diplomatic Acade
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went to the American Committee on U
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The board was very attractive to me
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President of the American Committee
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survived that, and was now the tuto
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great essay for me, which I treasur
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then. Sakharov wrote a draft of the
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House. This was Reagan - up to ’8
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social revolutionary change. The ch
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MILLER: No. The forces of change ha
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MILLER: Yes. The encouragement of h
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Gorbachev, so Yeltsin was sort of p
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Q: Well, why don't we talk about '9
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peculiar sense of stasis even in th
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members on the International Founda
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MILLER: Yes, but he would have won
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Q: This is tape eight, side one, wi
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Q: Was this an American movement mo
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doing, it was a pretty good paralle
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no one stopped them. They had to do
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MILLER: They sided with the people.
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A very good case in point is how th
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Quartet, from St. Petersburg. They
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MILLER: More or less. In all of the
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Q: Well, then, when did you leave M
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no one did very well; neither the R
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laws explicitly said you can’t ha
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policy going to be, and the articul
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people who had worked with him, lik
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Ridgeway. During the time between t
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My instructions were, number one, g
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(Communist bureaucracy). Q: Who was
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MILLER: The attitude in Washington
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Kravchuk and the Ukrainian leadersh
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that message and saw this policy by
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was surrounded by gorgeous gardens.
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When Meshkov asked about U.S. assis
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Ukraine, a longstanding one, which
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language issue really didn't cause
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most dramatic and most destructive
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now running the new system and were
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are now a part of the political age
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MILLER: Yes, that’s more or less
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utility of setting up FBI liaison w
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Q: This is tape 11, side one, with
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Q: Well, now, when you were there,
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invention, was created to provide a
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that would damage the good relation
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sense. There are Ukrainian national
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Ukrainian language nationalist, whe
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north German plain and so on is a f
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toadies and miscreants of one kind
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ase for me to go back to Ukraine an
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art of the country from the earlies
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only because I'm an example of it,
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Q: Absolutely. There's a little bit
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