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Coll 30/86(2) 'Persia. Relations with Iraq. Shatt-el-Arab: Internationalisation of, and establishment of a Conservancy Board.' [111r] (232/944)
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.
notwithstanding, to the detriment of Iraq and of His Majesty's
Government * In the event of war this might be not only
inconvenient but dangerous. Whatever may be the legal
and historical basis 4f the existing frontier, it is
unquestionably abnormal, and only defensible on the ground
that Persia has other outlets to the sea and Iraq has none.
There can be no doubt that this abnormality has created a
genuine grievance in the minds of the Shah and his
counsellors, and this grievance is a serious obstacle to
complete tranquillity in the Middle East. It has been
made abundantly clear that the minimum concession which will. .-
remove this grievance is an anchorage •ff Abadan, and it
can hardly be denied that even for practical purposes an
anchorage within the narrow limits hitherto suggested is of
little value, while for purposes of amour-propre or of
satisfying the Persian psychological grievance it is of no
value at all. It is therefore submitted that the true
interests of Iraq, and a fortiori of His Majesty’s
Government, who have in addition to consider the position
of the Angl^-Iranian Oil Company, demand that Iraq shall
conciliate Persia by granting her a thalweg frontier at
least opnosite Abadan. If this were done with a grod
grace, and the remaining details if the settlement could
be satisfactorily adjusted, the gain in Persian good-will
and c#-operation should far outweigh the attendant risks.
*
9. At the same time it is necessary to examine these
risks. Briefly, they are that the grant to Persia of
./
legal sovereignty iver any part of the navigable channel
of the Shatt-el-Arab might all#w circumstances to arise in
which it was no longer both legally and physically possible
for His Majesty’s Ships to pass between Basra and the open
sea/
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.' [111r] (232/944), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3803, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048894116.0x000021> [accessed 25 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100048894116.0x000021
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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