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Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [‎136v] (276/940)

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The record is made up of 1 file (468 folios). It was created in 20 Mar 1949-13 Dec 1949. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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It is planned to complete a 34/36-inch pipeline from Abadan with
a branch from Kuwait, by 1951-52. The initial capacity will
be o million tons per annum, 40 % of which will be provided
out of A.I.O.C. s 50% share in Kuwait oil production.
A.I.O.C. s share of the cost of constructing the pipeline,
pumping stations, storage tanks, terminal facilities and
harbour works is estimated at £35 million: the American
share is estimated at $100 million. The Mediterranean
terminal is to oe at Tartus, on the Syrian coast# A
pipeline agreement with the Syrian Government was made
Jun 9 1949* It is intended to erect a refinery
at Tartus (see Section IX, Syria) for which purpose Maritime
in 1948 6S ' wb °lly owned by A.I.O.G., was registered
98« The Abadan refinery is the largest in the world with an
annual capacity of 23 , 600,000 tons.
99» Negotiations respecting a revision of the royalty terms
are currently proceeding between A.I.O.C. and the Persian
Government,
t
100. The possibility of oil in areas other than those
conceded to the A.I.O.C. has led to numerous efforts by
^ her ^ GOnc ff ns to 0 ' btain concessions. Chief among these
have been the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey
{paragraphs 101 104), the Sinclair Oil Company (paragraph
a f Pan 9 b ~ Bel £ian group, the Soci£td Franco-Persane do
Recherches (Paragraph 106), the Seaboard Oil Company
(paragraphs 107 - 110), a Persian concern, the Kavir
Khurian Company (paragraphs 112 - 116), an associate of the
Shell group (paragraph 11?) and the Soviet Government
(paragraphs 118 - 120 ). Details of these companies efforts
are given m the following paragraphs.
( a ) The Khostharia Cone ession
101. in 1916 a Georgian adventurer named Khostharia acquired
a small concession in the province of Mazandaran based uoon
decree) granted in I 896 . In the same year
Khostharia obtained from the Persian Government a mubh more
? nS ^ e +£ 0nCe ? S £ on cover,in £ 'the rest of Mazandaran and the
Tr? nei £ hboaPln g provinces of Gilan and Astarabad.
^917 this concession was extended to cover the district
oi Ardabil, m Azerbaijan. The A.I.O.C. acquired this
concession in 1920 and formed a company named North Persian
t0 operate it. The A.I.O.C. thereupon notified the
^ GoV in^ en i u oi ti:ie com Pletion of the transfer. On the
"? he Persian Government informed the company
that the Khostharia concession was for several reasons regarded
as nuli and void. The situation took on a new aspic? whin
the Persian and Sovi.et Government signed a Treaty of
Friendship at Tehran on the 26th February, 1921. By
article XII 01 this treaty Soviet Russia declared that all
concessions (with certain exceptions specified in the treaty)
obtained by the Tsarist Government and its subjects were null
and void, and that the said concessions were therefore
restored "to the Persian Government as representing the
Persian peopie." By article XIII the Persian Government,
for their part, promised "not to cede to a third Power or
to its subjects the concessions and property thus restored
to Persia, and to maintain these rights for the Persian nation."
/102. m

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Content

The file contains papers relating to the Middle East (Official) Committee. It consists of: papers circulated to members of the Committee, received by the External Department of the Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO); a few items of CRO correspondence with the Foreign Office, the Cabinet Office, and Commonwealth governments; and a register of papers received or sent by the CRO relating to the Committee, with internal CRO correspondence (at the back of the file).

The file includes agendas for meetings of the Committee, and minutes of the meetings on 28 April, 5 May, 5 July and 19 July 1949. Matters discussed and recorded in the minutes include: the reconstitution of the Committee; the re-settlement of Arab refugees from Palestine; the report on Economic and Social Development in the Middle East by the Working Party of the Committee; the future work of the Committee; the Conference of HM Representatives in the Middle East to be held in London from 26 to 29 July 1949; United States President Truman’s ‘Fourth Point’ (Truman’s message of 24 June 1949 to the United States House of Representatives, communicating a ‘Recommendation for the Enactment of Legislation to Authorise an Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance for Underdeveloped Areas of the World’); and further studies of the Working Party.

The file also includes the following papers prepared by (or approved by) the Working Party of the Committee: draft, revised and interim versions of the report on Economic and Social Development in the Middle East; papers relating to the economic and social development of Iraq, Syria, Greater Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan , Egypt, the Lebannon, Saudi Arabia, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Eritrea and Somalia, and the Colony of Aden and the Aden Protectorate; and a paper on Middle East oil.

In addition, the file includes other papers relating to matters discussed at the meetings, and the following subjects: Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan ; irrigation development in Iraq; Persia’s [Iran’s] Seven Year Plan for development; informal conversations on social and economic affairs in the Middle East between representatives of the Foreign Office, the Treasury, the British Embassy in Washington, and the United States State Department; the work of the Development Division of British Middle East Office; a survey of the oil resources of the Middle East; and economic development in Cyprus in relation to the Middle East.

Extent and format
1 file (468 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate reverse chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

Numbers in red pen on the top right hand corner of items in the file refer to entries in the register of papers received and sent by the Commonwealth Relations Office at the back of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 468; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [‎136v] (276/940), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/4756, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100043455635.0x00004d> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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