It was captured and looted by the Iraqi Army on 14 May 1948.[14] Transjordan had a secret agreement with Israel regarding protection of the works.[15] United States Chargé d'affaires Wells Stabler reported in a confidential despatch that when the Iraqi army arrived, the Israeli operators of the plant blew up some of the electricity generators (alternators) in the plant and the plant was subsequently looted by the Iraqi troops.[15] Thirty-eight workers were captured;[16] they were released only after the Armistice Agreements were signed on 3 April 1949.[17] Stabler's despatch on 11 July 1949, written after a visit to the site, read: