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Coll 30/86(3) 'PERSIA. Relations with Iraq: Shatt-el-Arab. Establishment of an International Conservancy Board.' [‎147r] (300/674)

The record is made up of 1 file, in 2 parts (329 folios). It was created in 14 Apr 1937-5 Mar 1946. 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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not clear upon this point.
5. But whatever the legal position may he, it seems
His Majesty s Government that it "would he most unwise
politically for the Iraqi Government to adopt this
attitude. The Persian Government are anxious for a
Convention giving them some degree of control over all the
waters of the Shatt-el-Arah, and in the hest of
circumstances it is not going to he easy for the Iraqi
Government to face this demand without making concessions
to Iraqi interests or alternatively endangering
the frontier settlement. But the attitude suggested would
make the task almost impossible. If, after one year, the
Iraqi Government were to claim that they no longer had to
conclude a Convention and say that they did not mean to
do so, the Persian Government would prohahly take the line,
which might he unsound legally, hut which it would in
practice he difficult to oppose, that because one of the
Articles of the Treaty had not been fulfilled, the whole
Treaty was invalid and the frontier settlement was null and
void. The Iraqi Government would do much better to accept
the fact that if no Convention is concluded within twelve
months from the exchange of ratifications the obligation
to conclude it continues indefinitely, hut the control of
the Abadan anchorage passes (failing agreement with the
Persian Government to the contrary) to Persia.
6. With regard to the question of tactics, namely
whether or not the Iraqis should take the initiative in
producing a draft Convention, there is evidently much to
he said on both sides, hut the following course might in
general he the most satisfactory. The Iraqi Government
should prepare their draft Convention and, furthermore,
should/

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Content

The file concerns the possibility of establishing an international Conservancy Board for the Shatt-el-Arab (also referred to as the Shatt-al-Arab) between the governments of Iraq, Iran (also referred to as Persia), and the United Kingdom.

The board was intended to ensure the efficient maintenance and navigation of the Shatt-al-Arab waterway. The United Kingdom was involved because of the close interests of British shipping in the conservancy of the Shatt-al-Arab.

The papers cover: Perso-Iraqi frontier negotiations; drafts, signing (July 1937), and ratification (June 1938) of the Perso-Iraqi Frontier Treaty; Turkish approval of the frontier negotiations; the signing of the four power non-aggression pact between Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan (the Saad-Abad [Saadabad] Pact), 1937; Abadan anchorage; Foreign Office memoranda and minutes of meetings concerning a convention for the conservancy of the Shatt-al-Arab; the question of British participation in the convention; lighting and buoying; the involvement of Sir John Ward [serving with the Iraqi Government] in the discussions; the opposition of the Iranian Government to British involvement; the involvement of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC); the Port of Basra (including Foreign Office memorandum, folios 77-83); the Rooka Channel; and renewed discussion of the issue in 1945, including the importance of the Shatt-al-Arab for tanker traffic to supply Britain's war needs in the Far East.

The main correspondents are the Foreign Office, the British Ambassador to Iraq, and HM Minister, Tehran.

The French language content of the file consists of approximately twenty folios of diplomatic correspondence and treaties.

There are no papers in the file dated 1941-44.

The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file, in 2 parts (329 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: this file consists of two physical parts. The foliation sequence commences at the first folio of part one (ff 1-169) and terminates at the last folio of part two (ff 170-329); 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel; these numbers are printed, but are not circled. A previous foliation sequence, which is circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The front and back conservation covers (parts one and two), have not been foliated.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 30/86(3) 'PERSIA. Relations with Iraq: Shatt-el-Arab. Establishment of an International Conservancy Board.' [‎147r] (300/674), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3804, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047087709.0x000065> [accessed 14 May 2024]

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