![Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎74v] (148/644)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x00001b/IOR_L_PS_12_3472A_0148.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎74v] (148/644)")
Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [74v] (148/644)
The record is made up of 1 file (320 folios). It was created in 6 Dec 1933-27 Mar 1947. 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.
48
306. On the 26th January, accordingly, the Secretary of State made a long
speech controverting all the points in the Persian memorandum and exposing its
numerous misstatements. He also asserted that no remedy was open to the
company in the Persian courts, seeing that the cancellation had become part of the
law of Persia, while the act of cancellation had destroyed not only the concession
itself, but also that clause of the concession which provided for arbitration ,
thereby depriving the company of their normal means of redress. Dayar, in reply,
reverted to various points in the memorandum submitted by His Majesty’s
Government and repeated that the company should have had recourse to the
Persian courts. He also made further misstatements about the company’s conduct
in the past, which the Secretary of State subsequently disposed of without
difficulty. He made no reference to the possibility of conciliation, and did not
withdraw his challenge to the competence of the Council to deal with the dispute.
At the conclusion of the speeches M. Benes asked for time to consider his report.
The day’s proceedings completely changed the atmosphere in the Council
Chamber, which had hitherto been hostile to our case.
307. During the following days M. Benes was busily engaged with the
representatives of both sides in an effort to find a formula which would allow
direct negotiation to proceed under the ultimate control of the Council. After
much argument, the Persian representatives agreed on the 31st January to a
suitable formula, and the formula, of which the text was as follows, was approved
by the Council on the 3rd February :—
“ (1) The two parties agree to suspend all proceedings before the Council
until the session of May 1933, with the option of prolonging, if necessary, this
time-limit by common agreement.
“ (2) The two parties agree that the company should immediately enter
into negotiations with the Persian Government, the respective legal points of
view being entirely reserved.
“ (3) The two parties agree that the legal standpoint of each of them, as
stated before the Council in their memoranda and in their verbal statements,
remains entirely reserved. If the negotiations for the new concession remain
without result, the question will come back before the Council, before which
each party remains free to resume the defence of its case.
‘ ‘ (4) In accordance with the assurance given by the Persian Government
in its telegram of the 19th December, 1932, to the President of the Council,
it is understood that, while negotiations are proceeding and until the final
settlement of the question, the work and operations of the company in Persia
will continue to be carried on as they were carried on before the
27th November, 1932.”
308. The only important point of procedure not laid down in the formula
was the place where the negotiations were to take place. M. Benes hoped at one
time that the Persian representatives would accept a neutral capital like Prague,
where he himself would be accessible to both parties. But it soon became apparent
that the Persian Government would only agree under the strongest pressure to the
negotiations taking place outside Tehran. In addition, His Majesty’s Minister
and the company themselves came round to the opinion that the best hope of
success for the negotiations lay in their being conducted under the immediate
supervision of the Shah.
309. By about the 13th February the company had decided to send their
representatives to Tehran. Before this a number of meetings had taken place at
Geneva and Paris between the Persian representatives and officials of the
company. The result of these meetings was quite inconclusive, as the Persians
clearly had neither the authority nor the knowledge necessary for the negotiation
of a new agreement. Such as they were, the discussions centred around a
statement setting forth under ten headings the requirements of the Persian
Government in the matter of profits, control, &c., which were so vague that neither
the company’s officials nor the Persians themselves could understand them.
310. On the 19th February His Majesty’s Minister was received in audience
by the Shah on the occasion of the departure of the military attache. The oil
dispute was discussed, and His Majesty’s Minister formed the impression that as
a result of this discussion the Shah had begun to realise that the attitude adopted
About this item
- Content
Annual reports for Persia [Iran] produced by staff at the British Legation in Tehran. The reports were sent to the Foreign Office by HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary A diplomatic representative who ranks below an ambassador. The term can be shortened to 'envoy'. at Tehran (from 1943, Ambassador to Iran). The reports cover the following years: 1932 (ff 2-50); 1933 (ff 51-98); 1934 (ff 99-128); 1935 (ff 129-165); 1936 (ff 166-195); 1937 (ff 196-227); 1938 (ff 228-249); 1939 (ff 250-251); 1940 (ff 252-257); 1941 (ff 258-266); 1942 (ff 267-277); 1943 (ff 278-289); 1944 (ff 290-306); 1945 (ff 307-317); 1946 (ff 318-320).
The reports for 1932 to 1938 are comprehensive in nature (each containing their own table of contents), and cover: an introductory statement on affairs in Persia, with a focus on the Shah’s programme of modernisation across the country; an overview of foreign relations between Persia and other nations, including with the United Kingdom, British India, and Iraq; Persia’s involvement in international conventions and agreements, for example the League of Nations and the Slave Traffic Convention; British interests in or associated with Persia, including Bahrain and Bahrainis resident in Persia, the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. at Bushire, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, Imperial Bank of Persia, and the Imperial and International Communications Company; political affairs in Persia, including court and officials, majlis, tribes and security; economic affairs in Persia (government finances and budgets, trade, industry, agriculture, opium production); communications (aviation, railways, roads); consular matters; military matters (army, navy, air force).
Reports from 1939 to 1946 are briefer in nature, Reports from 1941 onwards focusing on the Anglo-Soviet occupation of Persia, and the role of United States advisors in the Persian Government’s administration.
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 (320 folios)
- Arrangement
The file’s reports are arranged in chronological order from the front to the rear of the file. Each report for the years 1932-1938 begins with a table of contents referring to that report’s own printed pagination sequence.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 321; 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 file contains one foliation anomaly, f 308A
Pagination: Each of the reports included in the file has its own printed pagination system, commencing at 1 on the first page of the report.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [74v] (148/644), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3472A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056661166.0x000095> [accessed 25 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056661166.0x000095
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056661166.0x000095">Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎74v] (148/644)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056661166.0x000095"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x00001b/IOR_L_PS_12_3472A_0148.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000648.0x00001b/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/3472A
- Title
- Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:91r, 92r:308v, 308ar:308av, 309r:320v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence