File 930/1912 'Mohammerah - Khoremabad Railway' [‎157v] (321/396)

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“ railway era m Persia. Different views will, no
“ doubt, be taken of this question, according as we
“ assign the chief importance to commercial or to
“ military considerations. The opening of Persia
“ to railways would undoubtedly be most advan-
“ tageous to our trade, and might enable us to
“ recapture many markets in the northern and
“ central parts of the country, from which we have
“ been driven by Russia, or in which we aie feebly
“ struggling to compete with her. (In the othei
“ hand, it would mean sooner or later the linking
up of the Russian and Indian railway systems,
“ and, even without that, it would give Russia a
“ very great advantage in any offensive operations
“ which she might undertake against us or against
“ Afghanistan, through Persia.”
21.' With the signature, on the 31st August 1907,
of the Anglo-Russian Convention embodying an
“Arrangement concerning Persia (Appendix Hid,
the question of railways in Persia entered upon
a new phase. With regard to Article 111 of the
Arrangement, enquiry was made by the Government
of India as to its effect on the pledges concerning
railways in Southern Persia given by former Shahs
on the 16th September 1888 (paragraph 5), and the
11th April 1900 (paragraph 16) The reply elicited
from the Foreign Office was to the following effect
“ The Arrangement would clearly prevent Mis
“ Majesty’s (iovernment from constructing a rail-
“ way line as far as Tehran, but, in Sir F. Grey’s
“ opinion, the wording of the pledge given by
“ Nasr-ed-Din Shah in 1888 would justify them in
“ asking to be allowed to construct a line in
“ Southern Persia, should they desire to do so,
“ in the event of the Russian Government obtaining
“ a concession to construct one in the north.
“ The Government of India will doubtless not
“ overlook the fact that the Russian Government
“ have undertaken, by the new Arrangement, not
“ to oppose concessions supported by His Majesty s
“ Government in the British sphere, nor, without
“ previous discussion with His Majesty s Govern-
“ ment, in the neutral zone either, and that the
“ position of Great Britain is therefore stronger in
“ this respect at present than it was before the
“ signature of the Convention.”
This letter was followed by another, dated the
25th September, in which the Foreign Office laid
stress, in connection with the Anglo-liussian Con
vention, on the desirability of considering the
question of railway construction in Persia, and, in
particular, whether a British concession would be
advantageous for a railway from Bunder Abbas to
Shiraz, with possible continuation to Ahwaz, and a
junction with the Bagdad Railway.
Anglo-Russian Convention of 31st
August 1907. Its effect on former
Shah’s pledges, and on British railway
policy in Persia.
Viceroy’s Telegram, 2nd September
1907.
Letter from Foreign Office, 19th Sep
tember 1907.
(P. 315.)
Pol. 3663/07.
Letter from Foi-eign Office, 25th Sep
tember 1907.
Pol. 3694/07.
22. In the year following the Convention Memorandum of Mr. Rees, M.P.,
Mr. Rees, M.P., forwarded to the Foreign Office a IHh April 1908.
memorandum urging the advancement of British ( R 65 )-
interests in Southern Persia, and mentioning,