File 345/1908 Pt 2 'Mohammerah: situation. Sheikh's dispute with the Vali of Basra. decoration for Sheikh. renewed assurances to Sheikh.' [‎166r] (336/566)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
[25031] No. 1.
Consul-General Cox to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received July 11.)
(No. 2. Confidential.)
Sir, Busllire, June 16, 1910.
IN accordance with instructions received from His Majesty’s charge d’affaires,
Tehran, I have the honour to submit direct, for your information, a copy of my despatch
No. 40/1607, dated the 16th June, 1910, to his address, giving cover to a communication,
with enclosures, received from Lieutenant Wilson, His Majesty’s acting consul,
Mohammerah, in which he presents the sheikh’s rejoinder to the charges made against
him by the Bussorah authorities, and adds a memorandum of his own.
I have, &c.
P. Z. COX, Lieutenant-Colonel,
His Majesty’s Consul-General for Ears. &c.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Consul-General Cox to Mr. Marling.
(No. 40/1607.)
Sir, Bushire, June 16, '’910.
IN continuation of the telegraphic correspondence, I have the honour to Su ^mit,
for your information, a copy of a communication (with enclosures and my telegrams
leading up to it) addressed to me by Lieutenant A. T. Wilson, His Majesty’s acting
consul at Mohammerah, in which, after personal communication with the sheikh on the
latter’s return from the Kanin, he presents the sheikh’s rejoinder to the Turkish
allegations both particular and general.
2. Before offering any observations on the contents of the report, I beg to touch
upon certain salient points of the recent correspondence and negotiations.
(i ) The Basis of my own Attitude.
The first news I had of their being anything wrong between the Sheikh and the
Yali of Bussorah was contained in Lieutenant Wilson’s telegram No. 404, received the
26th April, in which the latter reported the fact that Zain had been shelled by
the is Marmaris.” When I telegraphed to you on the 30th asking that His Majesty’s
consul, Bussorah, might be instructed to co-operate with Lieutenant Wilson in bringing
about an amicable settlement, it was only the bombardment of Zain that I had
knowledge of, and the amicable settlement which I advocated in regard to that incident
was naturally meant to be one which would have regard to the sheikh’s rights and
interests, as well as those of the vali.
It was not till later that I received news of the shelling of the sheikh’s mother’s
house, of the death of one of his wives from the shock of the bombardment, of the issue
of the offensive circular of the 24th April, and of the dispatch of the two letters to the
Persian consulate-general threatening measures against Mohammerah itself. In my
eyes these additional items of news, and the possible further Turkish measures
adumbrated by Mr. Crow, enhanced the hostile aspect of the vali’s proceedings and the
seriousness of the position to an extent which made an amicable local settlement not
only unlikely but also insufficient to meet the case, unless accompanied by a change
of valis.
Accordingly, botfi on the sheikh’s account and in our own interests, to which the
tranquility of the river at this season is a condition of the highest commercial
importance, as His Majesty’s consul, Bussorah, fully recognises,* I recommended the
dispatch of one of His Majesty’s ships to the scene, and efforts to bring about the recall
of the vali. These recommendations, however, you felt unable to endorse, for the
* Bussorah despatch No. 36 of May 8, 1907, to His Majesty’s Embassy.
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