'File No. II/12 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re: affairs in Persia and Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf. Jan '09 --' [‎29v] (58/178)

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In reply to the above, the Russian Gov
ernment gave Sir A. Nicolson a Memorandum,
stating that they would offer no obstacle to
the proposal respecting the prolongation of
existing concessions, but they reserved the
right, should it be necessary, to induce the
Persian Government to transfer to the charge
of the Russian telegraph establishments the
lines from Shalirud to the Russian frontier,
and from Meshed to Askhabad, on similar
conditions to those now existing on the
Meshed-Seistan line. The Russian Govern
ment further explained that, in their opinion,
it appeared to be urgently necessary to
separate negotiations on the question of any
new concessions from negotiations on the
matter of an exchange between Russia and
England of their respective lines, so as to
preclude any delay in the decision of this latter
question, winch had already been perfected
and regulated by both Governments {para
graph 23 of the Memorandum for October
1908),
^ Ticolson was instructed on the
19th February to address the Russian Govern
ment to the effect that the proposal in the
Russian aide-memoire as to taking over the
lines from Sharud and Meshed to the frontier
°n the conditions now existing on the Meshed-
Seistan line, should admit of the employment
of British signallers on the lines in question
if it should be thought desirable hereafter •
that any further agreement with the Russian
Government that might be necessary in respect
of the Tehran-Khanikin line, should be
deferred till after the consent of the Persian
Government to the extension of the Telegraph
Concessions to 1915 had been received ^ and
tlifit the questions of the exchange of the
Tehran-Meshed and Khaf-Nasratabad lines
should, if possible, be deferred till the other
negotiations had been concluded. I n reply
Sir A. Nicolson telegraphed on the 24th
Tebruary that the Russian Government would
probably raise objections to British signallers on
the telegraph lines from Meshed and Shahrud
to the frontier, on the ground that the lines in
question are in the Russian sphere, while the
Arabistan lines are in the neutral zone and
that the latter fact was mentioned bv the
Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs as
enabling Russian signallers to be employed on
the latter lines, if necessary; that as regards the
exchange of control over the Tehran-Meshed
and Khaf^eistan hnes, he (Sir A. Nicolson)
would also suggest that he should tell the
Russian Government that the two Represent
atives at Tehran might at the first favourable
opportunity bring the question before the
Persia^ Government, as this would enable
His Majesty’s Minister at Tehran to take it up