Coll 28/16 ‘Persia; Imperial Bank of Persia; relations with the Persian Government.’ [‎48r] (95/247)

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
PERSIA.
October 2, 1931.
^CONFIDENTIAL
Section 4.
[E 4980/847/34] No. 1.
Mr. Dodd to the Marquess of Reading.—{Received October 2.)
(No. 526. Most Confidential.) i , ^ So ,
My Lord, Tehran, September 23, 1931.
WITH reference to my telegram No. 204 of the 16th instant, I have the
honour to transmit to your Lordship herewith, a translation of the letter
addressed by the Minister of Finance to the acting chief manager of the Imperial
Bank of Persia on the 13th September, recording the bank's appointment as
the Persian Government's agent for the purchase of exchange on the same terms
as the National Bank. No other bank is to share this privilege, apparently.
2. The press has referred to a decree of the Council of Ministers embodying
this decision, but the text of the decree itself has not been published, nor has
Mr. Butters received a copy of it. The latter, however, does not think that it
would be politic to press the matter, as the Government doubtless wish to give it
as little publicity as possible, whilst the Minister of Finance's letter gives the
bank the guarantee and rights it has been craving for.
3. Mr. Butters, in my opinion, deserves the greatest credit for having
brought his negotiations to a successful issue. He has throughout shown an
experienced intuition of the most suitable line of approach, and a fund of tact
and patience, and the results which he has obtained show what success can be
obtained by the display of these qualities in the direction of the bank’s affairs.
4. All the exporters’ exchange bought by the Imperial Bank will be held
at the disposal of the Government, and the bank is to make regular statements of
such purchases to the Treasury-General, as indicated in Taghi Zadeh's letter. It
is only to this extent that the bank has agreed to “ place itself under the control
of the Persian Government " (see your Lordship’s despatch No. 509 of the
7th September), and this it has been willing to do from the very beginning.
Mr. Wilkinson's letter to the Minister of Finance of the 20th April, a copy of
which formed Enclosure {c) to Sir Robert Clive's despatch No. 224 of the 6th May
last, gave a definite undertaking to that effect. It is, therefore, a mere excuse
on the part of the Government for the delay in according to the Imperial Bank
a privilege to which it was clearly entitled under the agreement of the 13th May,
1930, to profess that the bank has hitherto declined to accept the measure of
official control required of it.
5. I am sending a copy of this despatch to His Majesty's Acting High
Commissioner for Iraq, and to the Government of India.
I have, &c.
(For the Charge d’Affaires),
LACY BAGGALLAY.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Minister of Finance to the Imperial Bank of Persia, Tehran.
(Translation.)
Dear Sirs, September 13, 1931.
IN terms of the decision taken, the Imperial Bank shall, in the same way as
the National Bank of Persia, be the Government's agent for the purchase of
exchange derived from the country’s exports.
You will, therefore, act accordingly, and supply the Treasury-General
regularly with statement of your purchases.
TAGHI ZADEH.
(Seal of the Ministry of Finance.)
[281 b—4]