Coll 30/86(2) 'Persia. Relations with Iraq. Shatt-el-Arab: Internationalisation of, and establishment of a Conservancy Board.' [‎210v] (431/944)

2
concluded to regulate the question of navigation. W hat is the Iranian Govern-
ment^opimon mjegard^to Commission fall exclusively within two
categories, as under i . , . „ . .
i , p n t pn nrv This covers navigation only, i-t-, the issue of regulations for
navigation X Control thereof , lighting, pilotage and buoying, and all other
matters calculated to facilitate navigation.
rXorv -This covers the dredging and maintenance of the river to
2nd Lateg . y. fQr the mOTement of shipping. The functions under this
rendei it at all , - execut i ve powers of control m all matters calculated,
category require the grant o^execu ^ ^ ^ work of dredgillg and ^
from a technica p - economically and systematically. The powers of the
tenance is earn ! h t cover the Shatt and the water-heads on both
commission wll P ^ miles of the Karun River and the entire course
S l d ?L 0 RahmT^hir1n o"de to enable it to control the waters and mitigate the
dlmave to rShatt caused by the waters of the Karun.
T f the Iranian Government are prepared to give effect to this idea on the basis
ii tne • thev have only to state so frankly m order that we may
s* sKBkSrsfflt su- ih. «!»«» ■ «!' »i % n
hl lranian Government, for any reason, are not willing to give the commission
nowe s of control over the matters mentioned m the second category, z e„ dredging
powei» or Guubi i - r pp-ard to the importance of these matters to Iraq.
to SSKw. .S.r.'.to*'!.. m **, i. .t
it wdl be neces. t . Gove r nme nt, it would not be reasonable for the Iranian
Government to demand a share in the control of matters concerning areas within
Ira'cd territorv and under the exclusive sovereignty of Iraq, while the correspond
ing areas within Iranian territories are excluded from the authority of the
commission h that th e commission could be given authority to advise
concerning matters falling under this second category, i.e., dredging and main
tenance, it being left to the discretion of the two Governments to act on this
^Tf none of these proposals is suitable to the Iranian Government, and if they
are satisfied to accept the Abadan anchorage and to give up altogether the idea of
creating a commission. thev have only to say so frankly in order that the nego .a-
tions may proceed. The Iraqi Government will, in that event, continue to regulate
navigation, dredging, &c., on the existing bases.
Enclosure 2.
Record of Conversation between Mr. Bateman and Iranian Minister m
Bagdad on June 24.
THE Persian Minister called this morning. It was quite clear that he had
come to talk about the attached note, which was sent yesterday to him uy :
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. . After a lot of beating about the bush, he came to the point, wiiicn w
that in sub-paragraph 1 of the note, no mention was made of an a g reemen A t K w i
he alleged to have been reached regarding the length of the anchorage at ADa •
He said that the experts (Colonel Ward and Colonel Bayandor) had recommended
a 4-mile anchorage, the Iraqi Government had agreed, and Sir A. Gariy a
had assured him that this part of the business could be considered as c0 ^ lu i( j
The only other outstanding point about the anchorage w r as the width, r 16 .,,
that, of course, his Government claimed the medium filum aquae, and tha 1
was to be a conciliator, as he wanted to be, and get his Government to a J> ie i,
accept a quarter of the river, he must have something to show for it. tie
already reported that the Iraqi Government had accepted an anchorage 4 mi e
length, and his grievance was that this ought to have appeared in the Iraqi no ^
" I contested his argument on the following lines : In the first place, i “
quite clear that the Iraqi note was intended to clear the air on principles,
details. The omission of any given point from such a document dm
necessarily mean that the Iraqi Government were going back on any prom