Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎72r] (143/644)

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salute at Bushire, and the Port of Bushire should return the salute, on the
occasion of the first visit paid by each ship each year to the Inner Anchorage.
The Outer Anchorage and Reshire were not to count for saluting purposes. For
some time previously no salutes had been fired at Bushire, although the port of
Bushire was scheduled as a saluting station, because the Persian authorities had
no authority to return salutes, or, indeed, any means of doing so. On the occasion
of the visit of H.M.S. Hawkins in January, however, two guns were placed in
front of the Governor’s house for the purpose of returning her salute, and salutes
were also exchanged when H.M.S. Enterprise visited Bushire in May.
HM.S. Ormonde and Sirri Island.
270. Permission was sought during the summer for H.M.S. Ormonde to
continue her survey work in Persian waters during the winter of 1933-34. The
same reservation was made as regards Sirri as in 1931 and 1932. The necessary
permission was given in November, the Persian Government taking the
opportunity to assert that Sirri was Persian territory de jure as well as de facto.
Persian Naval Activity.
271. The orders prescribed for the reception of Persian vessels visiting the
Arab coast (see paragraph 210 of 1932) were modified somewhat in January.
It was decided that if a visit were to take place without prior notification and the
commander were to seek to pay a ceremonial visit on the ruler concerned, he should
be received, except at Bahrein, and a protest against the absence of notification
lodged subsequently at Tehran. At Bahrein the answer was to be left to the
discretion of the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , on the understanding that ordinary courtesies
should not be withheld provided the behaviour of the commander and crew was
in all respects correct.
272. In May His Majesty’s Minister repeated to the Minister for Foreign
Affairs the warning he had given to Teymourtache the previous autumn (see
paragraph 209 of 1932) to the effect that the Arab rulers would expect prior
warning at the least before units of the Persian fleet visited their coasts.
273. As the result of visits paid by H.M.S. Hawkins to Abadan and
Bushire in January, excellent relations were established between the British and
Persian fleets. The subsequent behaviour of the Persian fleet was, however,
calculated to destroy those relations altogether. The incidents at Basidu and
Tamb and in the Shatt-el-Arab have been dealt with elsewhere. Apart from these
incidents, the principal cause of complaint against the Persian navy was their
constant interference with Arab dhows on the high seas.
274. On the 10th April the Babr stopped a Koweiti dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. , the Fath-ul-
Khair, near Hen jam, and forced her to follow to Bandar Abbas. The vessel was
certainly more than 4 miles from the Persian coast when first hailed, and the
incident was aggravated by the lack of consideration and bad seamanship of the
Babr, which made the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. heave to in a heavy sea and then crashed into her
bows, doing damage to the extent of 300 to 400 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. . The dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. and her crew
were subsequently released by the Director of Customs at Bandar Abbas.
275. On the 21st May a Persian warship, probably the Simorgh, hailed
another Koweiti dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. , also called Fath-ul-Khair, while at anchor about 10 miles
from Bushire, but having searched the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. , which was suspected of smuggling
opium, and interrogated the master, allowed her to proceed.
276. On the 10th September a boat from the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. was boarded and
searched by the Babr about 17 miles off the Persian coast near the Island of Sheikh
Shuaib. The Babr made off on sighting H.M.S. SJioreham approaching in the
distance.
277. In addition to the activities of the navy, an armed Persian customs
launch anchored for two days off Khasab, a port belonging to the Sultan of
Muscat, with a captured Persian vessel in her charge; the launch must also have
used Muscat waters as a base for affecting the arrest, although there was nothing
to show that the arrest itself had occurred in Muscat waters.
278. Each of these cases formed the subject of a protest to the Persian
Government, any suggestion that the mere passage of the launch through Muscat