Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 36 › Conversation 036-113

Nixon phone call with Helms on Iran and Iranian oil

Thursday, January 25, 1973 · 6:18 PM–6:22 PM ET · White House Telephone · 4 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Helms, Richard M.Conversation036-113 on Tape 36StartThursday, January 25, 1973 at 6:18 PMEndThursday, January 25, 1973 at 6:22 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 036-113 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon consulted CIA Director Richard Helms regarding his upcoming appointment as Ambassador to Iran and his role in addressing the unstable situation surrounding Iranian oil. Nixon emphasized the need for Helms to exert broader influence over regional stability in the Persian Gulf, suggesting an early trip to the region despite Helms’s initial plans for a mid-March departure. Helms was instructed to consult with John Ehrlichman, Peter Flanigan, and John Connally to prepare for this mission, which aimed to consolidate U.S. interests and intelligence prior to an anticipated crisis.

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Transcript (AI-generated)

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Hello.
Mr. President, I have Director Hill.
Yeah.
Good evening, Mr. President.
Nick, I'm sitting here talking to John Ehrlichman, and I was wondering when you could get out to Iran, how soon you could get out there.
Well, I've been planning to go about the middle of March.
Middle of March?
Yeah.
Because I haven't got to get myself briefed, and I've got that letter from you, which means I've got to do a lot of work on that energy problem.
Well, let me say this.
I wonder, have you been confirmed yet?
I'd asked Fulbright about it, because I told him and said that I wanted you confirmed especially, and he said he would.
Well, I think it'll be next week.
See, the Johnson death set it up.
That's right.
Joe Farland is still out there, you know.
Oh, I know that.
I know that.
I see.
I see.
Well, but he'll be...
He's leaving until the end of February.
Oh, yeah.
Because the Shah gave him a mission to do before he left.
He wanted him to travel around and see the Iranian industrial production.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, that may be what we're talking about.
What I would like for you to do is have a talk with John next week sometime, would you?
Yes, sir.
And the Iranian oil thing is in apparently one hell of a situation at the moment.
Did you talk to Connolly, or you're going to?
I'm going to.
I wanted to get myself educated a little bit before I talked to him.
Well, I would say the first man to talk to is John Ehrman.
Right.
And then Flanagan, who's made his study read the whole thing.
Right.
And what I want to do is that if you're not going to March, maybe we can find a way to expedite it so you could take a trip even now, couldn't you?
Oh, I could travel out there, certainly.
Well, what I have in mind, I've talked to everybody here who thinks it's a great idea.
and I've just been talking to Henry about this, what I really have in mind is for you basically to be sort of the, without downgrading the other ambassadors, the ambassador in charge of that sort of area, you know what I mean?
Yes, sir.
Particularly, so you could go down to those sheepdoms and these other places and pull this thing together and then give us the recommendation, you know, and it,
in charge of the area, not only in terms of oil and so forth, but in terms of the stability of the government.
You see what I mean?
So I think a trip of that sort would be very worthwhile.
Let me suggest this.
You come in to... You have a talk with John Ehrlichman at the earliest possible time.
Have a talk with...
And with Connelly, the Connelly thing is a little sensitive because he represents some clients, but on the other hand, you should talk with him.
Right.
And then sometime next week, perhaps Wednesday or Thursday or so, maybe toward the end of the week, because I'm going to be there at the first of the week, we'll try to go over the thing.
All right, sir.
But my view is that you probably ought to take a trip fairly soon.
In other words, you know the Shah well, right?
Yes, sir.
And you could do it.
I don't think it's any problem with Farland.
But you better think about that and talk to, if you think it's too sensitive to go out there and hurt anyone.
But you're still the director of the CIA, right?
Yes, sir.
Wow, that's...
Well, why don't I talk to these gentlemen and see what the score is here.
Maybe I can come up with a recommendation then.
All right, fine.
You talk and we'll work something out.
Because I don't want, I'd like to get a, since you're going to be in charging, I'd like to get you in the deal now before it, frankly, before it blows.
Right, sir.
Then when it blows, we can blame you.
Okay, you've been through that before, haven't you?
Yes, I have.

NARA Description

On January 25, 1973, President Richard M. Nixon and Richard M. Helms talked on the telephone from 6:18 pm to 6:22 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 036-113 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 36-113

Date: January 25, 1973
Time: 6:18 pm - 6:22 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Richard M. Helms.

[See Conversation No. 842-13B]

       Helms’s schedule
           -John D. Ehrlichman
           -Iran trip
           -Confirmation as Ambassador to Iran
                  -J. William Fulbright
           -Current US Ambassador Joseph S. Farland
                  -[Shah of Iran] Mohammed Reza Pahlavi
                  -Mission
                        -Industrial production
           -Ehrlichman
                  -Meeting with Helms
           -John B. Connally
           -Peter M. Flanigan
           -Mission
           -Henry A. Kissinger
           -Helms’s role
                  -Stability in Persian Gulf

*****************************************************************

[Previous National Security (B) withdrawal reviewed under MDR guidelines case number
LPRN-T-MDR-2014-013. Segment declassified on 04/17/2019. Archivist: DR]
[National Security]
[036-113-w001]
[Duration: 4s]
                                              -72-

                   NIXON PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

                                                            Conversation No. 36-113 (cont’d)

       Iranian oil
             -Richard M. Helms’s role
                   -Covert operations

*****************************************************************

       Iranian oil
             -Richard M. Helms’s role
                   -Ehrlichman
                   -Connally
                         -Clients
                   -Pahlavi
                   -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA]
                         -Director

Also recorded on January 25, 1973

  • 405-012 2:16 PM · 12 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building at an unknown time between 2:16 pm and 3:31 pm.
  • 405-016 3:31 PM · 57 min — President Richard M. Nixon, Charles W. Colson, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, and Manolo Sanchez met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:31 pm to 4:33 pm.
  • 842-010 4:55 PM · 20 sec — President Richard M. Nixon, Manolo Sanchez, and unknown person(s) met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:55 pm and 5:00 pm.
  • 842-011 4:55 PM · 13 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:55 pm and 5:00 pm.
  • 842-012 4:55 PM · 3 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Stephen B. Bull met in the Oval Office of the White House at an unknown time between 4:55 pm and 5:00 pm.
  • 842-013 5:00 PM · 1 hr 57 min — President Richard M. Nixon, H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, Stephen B. Bull, unknown person(s), Henry A. Kissinger, Manolo Sanchez, White House operator, and Richard M. Helms met in the Oval Office of the White House from 5:00 pm to 6:58 pm.
  • 036-112 5:34 PM · 18 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 5:34 pm and 6:18 pm.
  • 036-114 6:22 PM · 30 sec — H. R. ("Bob") Haldeman and the White House operator talked on the telephone on an unknown date, sometime between 6:22 pm on January 25, 1973 and 1:18 pm on January 30, 1973.

All 40 conversations from January 25, 1973 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 036-113, January 25, 1973. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/036-113 (accessed October 22, 2026).