Coll 30/86(2) 'Persia. Relations with Iraq. Shatt-el-Arab: Internationalisation of, and establishment of a Conservancy Board.' [110r] (230/944)
The record is made up of 1 volume (468 folios). It was created in 23 Dec 1935-22 Apr 1937. It was written in English and French. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
(^ t: y
anchorage extending to- the thalweg opnosite Abadan,
n«twithstanding the objections which have been urged against
this course in the past, are mainly those of higher policy.
It is essential for Iraq to cultivate genuinely friendly
relations with Persia, but s* ling as the frontier dispute
remains unsettled, the establishment of such relations is
impossible. This is equally true of the relations between
His Majesty’s Government and Persia, and it must be
remembered that in the event of hostilities involving the
Shatt—el—Arab it is likely to be at least as important for
His Majesty’s Government to obtain oil from Persia as to
send warships to Basra. The events of the past year have
lent a degree of reality to the problems of the Shatt-el-
Arab which they did not possess in earlier years, but above
all else they have made it imperative that the whole
question should be settled in a manner which will enable
His Majesty’s Government and Iraq to rely on Persian
friendship in the unsettled period which may lie ahead.
This is a matter of pure self-interest for His Majesty’s
Government, and the manner in which the Persian Government
have hitherto conducted the dispute, or the general
behaviour of Persia towards His Majesty’s Government, form
no part of the argument.
8 . But while tolerably friendly relations between
the Powers interested in the Shatt-el-Arab are impossible
without a frontier settlement, no settlement can be lasting
or effective unless it satisfies reasonable Persian
aspirations. Unless it does so, Persia will be under a
constant temptation to use the very real powers of
obstruction and interference which her geographical
position undoubtedly gives her, all legal barriers
no tw i th s t a nd i ng, /
About this item
- Content
The file concerns negotiations over a convention to establish a 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 convention had two main objects: (1) to provide for the conservancy of the Shatt-al-Arab (i.e. its maintenance as a navigable waterway adequate to the needs of international shipping); (2) to control the navigation of the Shatt-al-Arab (i.e. to provide all shipping using the waterway with a uniform system of control, administration, and discipline in all matters necessary for safe and efficient shipping). The board was to consist of Iraq and Iran as the two riparian countries concerned, and the United Kingdom as the state owning over 90 per cent of the shipping using the river.
The papers cover: Perso-Iraqi negotiations; the question of British participation in the convention; the views of the Shah of Iran; negotiations over the frontier between Iraq and Iran; dredging dues; the navigation of the river; Persian violations of Iraqi territory; the anchorage at Abadan; draft agreements on the frontier between Iraq and Iran; the Persian refusal to allow Iraq any say over the waters (the Karun) that flowed into the Shatt-al-Arab (e.g. folios 262-264); the interests of the Government of Turkey in the issue; the view of the Foreign Office that a single authority was required in order to achieve unified control over the whole waterway system (folios 245-246); quarantine and police posts; and the Port of Basra (budget estimates, and dues and charges).
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 ten folios of diplomatic correspondence and treaty drafts.
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 volume (468 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 464; 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. The front and back covers, along with the two leading and two ending flyleaves have not been foliated. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 291-464 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 30/86(2) 'Persia. Relations with Iraq. Shatt-el-Arab: Internationalisation of, and establishment of a Conservancy Board.' [110r] (230/944), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3803, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048894116.0x00001f> [accessed 20 April 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/3803
- Title
- Coll 30/86(2) 'Persia. Relations with Iraq. Shatt-el-Arab: Internationalisation of, and establishment of a Conservancy Board.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1r:9v, 16r:16v, 23r:68v, 69v:74r, 75r:76v, 77v:78v, 87r:181v, 187r:196v, 199r:199v, 201r:217v, 218v:292v, 299v:311v, 315r:323v, 333r:464v, iii-r:iv-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence