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Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎210v] (420/644)

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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. .

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the year was the concession obtained from the Iranian Government exempting the
company from the regulations of the 7th July, 1937, which I'equired that .all
business firms should keep their accounts and correspondence m * ' •
The company were able to obtain a statement in writing that ie) \ c P ,
to conduct ill their correspondence in English. It can also be said that the
growing financial difficulties of the Government contributed to strengthen the
company’s position.
120 A minor event of interest was the purchase by the Iranian Government
of all the shares held by the Bakhtiari Khans in the First Exploitation Company
and the Bakhtiari Oil Company, which gave birth to the Anglo-Iraman Oil
Company. 37,320 shares were taken over at a purchase price of a little undei
£350,000, which was thought to be reasonable. Thus disappeared the last tiace
of the traditional connexion between the company and the Bakiitiari ixnans.
121. Neither the grant by the Iranian Government early in the year oi
concessions in North-East and East Iran to two American oil companies, nor the
terms of the concessions were regarded in Tehran as a serious blow either ^o
the position or interests of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, and an article m the
concession of the company due to construct pipe-lines specihed that these must no,
infringe existing rights as regards the transport of oil.
British Insurance Companies.
122. The year was an anxious one for the British insurance companies
operating in Iran, the majority of which were represented in Tehran by Messrs.
Fowler and Co. In October 1936 the Council of Ministers approved a decree regu
lating the position of all insurance companies operating in Iran, which involved
onerous provisions affecting foreign insurance companies, such as the deposit ot a
o-uarantee of 1 million rials and the retention in Iran of 50 per cent ot net
premiums. Theobject of the decree was doubtless primarily to strengthen the newly
formed Iran Assurance Company. Insurance companies were given a period of six
months within which they had to comply with the decree or withdraw from Iran.
The exact meaning of many of the provisions of the decree was far from clear, and
at the end of 1936 a questionnaire was addressed to the Ministry for horeign
Affairs by the companies’ agents in an attempt to clarify the position. By the
middle of February 1937 no reply had been received. On the 16th February His
Majesty’s Minister explained the position to the head of the European Depait-
ment at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, pointing out that the period of grace
would soon run out, while the insurance companies still lacked the information on
which they could base a decision whether or not to remain in Iran. He therefore
asked that the period of grace should be extended by three months. This was
granted, and later a further extension to the 2nd October was also given.
123. During the summer Mr. de Courcy, a director of Messrs. Fowler
and Co., spent several months in Tehran endeavouring to obtain better conditions
for the foreign companies, but without much success. He was assured that the
Iranian Government had no desire to drive out foreign insurance companies. But
it was significant that during the summer the Department of Commerce issued a
circular to all Chambers of Commerce in Iran urging their members to insure
only with the Iran Assurance Company. On the 18th October the Council of
Ministers approved a new decree, cancelling that of a year before, but repeating
its provisions in the main, with the addition of a new and important article
requiring that all insurance companies operating in Iran must reinsure 25 per
cent, of their business with the Iran Assurance Company. Insurance companies
were allowed three months within which to comply with the decree. By the end
of the year the views and intentions of the British companies had not yet been
communicated to His Majesty’s Legation. The situation was to some extent
complicated by the special position of the Royal Assurance Company, which
handled all the business of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. This business was
of such value that the Royal Assurance Company were prepared to comply with
the new legislation in order to retain it. The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company were
also anxious not to appear reluctant to deal with the Iran Assurance Company.
Mr. Corbett Wright, the Bombay representative of the Royal Assurance Company,
who had spent several months in Tehran earlier in the year, returned in December

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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
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Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎210v] (420/644), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3472A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056661168.0x000015> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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