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Arab and, while the commandant of the Persian navy promised verbally to do
what he could to observe the Port of Basra regulations, minor incidents continued
to occur. On the land section of the frontier there was no serious tribal trouble,
but the Persian Government continued to complain that rebels were
receiving Iraqi support and Persian officials made frequent incursions
over the frontier and police posts were established on Iraqi territory.
All Iraqi protests remained unanswered or provoked the reply that the Peisian
Government did not recognise the existing frontier. Moreover, the inability of
the Persian forces to deal satisfactorily with the rebels, led to the publication of
complaining articles in the Tehran press.
250. As the year progressed, however, the tone of the press changed and
the general sense was that Persia desired Iraq to be powerful and independent of
imperialistic Governments. It was felt that the Shah had given orders that a
settlement must be reached, but before any negotiations could take place the Iiaqi
Government became alarmed at the cancellation of the Shah s visit to Iraq and
at the attempts which he was believed to be making at Angora to win over 1 urkey
to the Persian side.
251. In July the Persian Government invited Nuri-es-Said to Tehran, but
this invitation was refused on the ground that if he returned empty-handed
Iraqi prestige would suffer. Meanwhile the Tehran press continued to be very
friendly in tone.
252. When the Council meeting opened at Geneva in September, Kazemi
informed the Secretary of State that a formula might be found by tracing the
land frontier southwards to a definite point and then saying that from this
point it would follow a course as prescribed by the rules of international law;
this course would, in fact, be the thalweg, but there was no need to say so and
Iraq would continue to have full opportunities for using the channel. The
Secretary of State returned a non-committal reply to this suggestion which was
not, of course, acceptable to the Iraqi Government.
253. The next move came from the Persian Minister at Bagdad who
proposed that as far as the land frontier was concerned, a preamble might state
that, while Iraq recognised the 1913-14 protocol, Persia did not; the main body
of the agreement would then trace the existing land frontier. In the view of
the Foreign Office, any agreement redefining one part of the frontier would
weaken Iraq’s case in contending that the whole 1913-14 definition was legal
and binding.
254. At this juncture the Persians established yet another police post upon
Iraqi territory, possibly in the delusive hope that this would make the Iraqi
Government more willing to come to an agreement.
255. On his way back to Persia via Bagdad, Kazemi informed Nuri that he
would shortly put forward proposals for the settlement of the frontier question.
It was not known what these proposals were, but it was probable that they were
identical with those of the Persian Minister at Bagdad, already referred to.
Kazemi added that he did not want to take the case to the League of Nations.
256. Meanwhile, during his visit to London, Nuri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. had sought the
views of His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom as to the advisability
of bringing Persia before the League under article 11 of the Covenant. He was
warned that this might not result in a clear cut decision and that the Council
might have to interpret the frontier by the Hookah channel, an eventuality that
was not without risks. Nuri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , however, discounted these dangers and a
tentative draft of a letter to be addressed to the Secretary-General of the League
of Nations was prepared. This letter recited the Iraqi grievances under four
main heads : the behaviour of the Persian navy in the Shatt-el-Arab; the establish
ment by the Persians of six police posts at various points on Iraqi territory; the
seizure of the Sarkushk lands by Persian villagers; and the diversion of the
waters of the Gunjan Cham river by the Persian authorities, thus starving the
Iraqi town of Zarbatiyah which is entitled to half the water. These complaints
were supported by quotations from correspondence between the two Governments.
257. On his return to Bagdad Nuri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. learnt, as has been stated above,
of fresh Persian encroachments. These he was unable to settle by means of a