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Coll 28/99 ‘Persia. Anglo-Persian Relations. Treaty negotiations, 1937– (Perso-Baluch Frontier Demarcation)’ [48r] (95/275)
The record is made up of 1 file (135 folios). It was created in 9 Feb 1935-17 Oct 1939. It was written in English. 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.
IX.—Persian Customs Interference, at Abu Musa, 1925-6.
• )_?. In the autumn of 1925 the Persian customs authorities sent a launch
to Abu Musa which inspected the red oxide and removed one bag. On
a protest being made, they replied that Abu Musa belonged to Persia.
Energetic action was taken at Teheran by His Majesty’s Minister, who
reminded the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs of the 1923 correspondence,
and subsequent!}' warned him privately that persistence in the Persian
claim would make it necessary “to request the Government of India to
despatch a ship of war to Abu Musa to uphold the rights of the Sheikh
of Shargah.”** 'The Persian Government withdrew, and the customs
authorities were instructed “not to take any steps in Abu Musa or Tamb
pending reply from Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding status of these
islands.”
X.—Reassertion of Persian Claim to Tamb, 1928.
33. In July 1928 a Persian customs launch, which had been operating
from Tamb for about two months, seized off the south of the island a Debai
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
carrying passengers, to Khassab, on the Arab coast, with a small
cargo of sugar and dates, and brought it to Lingah, where the cargo was
confiscated as smuggled and the passengers imprisoned. The incident
created a very serious situation on the
Trucial Coast
A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates.
, the Trucial Chiefs
being restrained only with difficulty from immediate reprisals; and its
possible reactions proved a matter of grave concern to the Government of
India.
31. Strong diplomatic representations by His Majesty’s Government at
Teheran secured the release of the
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
and its passengers and crew. The
cargo remains under seizure, and a claim for compensation has been met by
a reiteration of the Persian claim to ownership of Tamb, based, according to
the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, on a British Note dated 27th July
1888, signed by His Majesty’s Minister under instructions from the Marquess
of Salisbury, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, communicating a
map “ recently issued by the Intelligence Department of the War Office ”
for presentation to the Shah on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government. The
Charge d’Affaires has indicated that the argument is unsubstantial, while
the fact cannot clearly in itself affect the validity of the Arab claim ; but it
is clear that in the forthcoming negotiations with Persia, not only the
immediate Tamb incident, on which the Government of India have expressed
themselves very strongly, but the position of Abu Musa (and of Sirri) will
come up for disposal.
XI.—Summary.
35. The effective occupation of Sirri by Persia since 1887, and the tacit
acquiescence in that occupation of His Majesty's Government, make it
difficult, if not impossible, at this stage to dispute the Persian claim, though
His Majesty's Government are not estopped by any formal admission on
their part from using the Shargah claim to the island for bargaining-
purposes.
36. The position is different as regards Tamb and Abu Musa. At no
stage has the Persian claim been formally admitted, and at no stage has it
been allowed to pass unquestioned. The argument in support of the latest
Persian claim as set out in para. 34 above could be strengthened, so far as
it has any value, by reference to the fact that the islands are also shown in
Persian colours on Lord Curzon’s (unofficial) Map of Persia of 1892, and
on the Survey of India Map of 1897.* While, however, the error in question
is extremely regrettable from the standpoint of His Majesty’s Government,
it cannot be taken as a formal declaration by His Majesty’s Government of
their view of the status of the islands, nor, it is suggested, can it be regarded
as of substantial importance in view of the consistent repudiation, before
and after the dates mentioned, of the Persian claim.
** Teh. Dexp. 258.
to F.O., Mav 31
1926, P. 2243/26.
Teh. tel. 250 to
F.O., Aug. 24 1928,
P. 4509.
* Teh. tel. to
Viceroy, April 20
1904, P. 2559/04.
About this item
- Content
Correspondence and other papers concerning the Persian [Iranian] Government’s renewed desire in 1937 to finalise a treaty of friendship between Britain and Iran (also referred to in the file as the Anglo-Persian Consular Convention). The papers, chiefly exchanged between HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary A diplomatic representative who ranks below an ambassador. The term can be shortened to 'envoy'. in Tehran, Horace James Seymour, the Foreign Office, and the 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. , cover: outstanding points remaining to be agreed prior to the signing of any treaty, including the withdrawal of Iran’s claims to Bahrain, Tamb [Greater Tunb] and Abu Musa, and the demarcation of the Perso-Baluch frontier, between Iran and British Baluchistan, now part of Pakistan; the British Government and Government of India’s reluctance to commit to a demarcation of the Perso-Baluch frontier, in part because of the financial implications of such a project; the despatch of an Iranian technical commission between February and May 1938 to recommence a survey of the Perso-Baluch frontier that was originally started in 1932; arrangements for the Government of India’s cooperation with the Iranian survey party, with the support 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. at Chagai; reports on the Iranian survey party’s activity and progress; a confidential entitled ‘Status of the Islands of Tamb, Little Tamb, Abu Musa and Sirri’ written by John Gilbert Laithwaite of the 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. , and dated 24 August 1928 (ff 45-48); the return of the Iranian survey party to the frontier in late 1938.
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 (135 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 137; 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 28/99 ‘Persia. Anglo-Persian Relations. Treaty negotiations, 1937– (Perso-Baluch Frontier Demarcation)’ [48r] (95/275), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3510, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100060753427.0x000062> [accessed 1 May 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/3510
- Title
- Coll 28/99 ‘Persia. Anglo-Persian Relations. Treaty negotiations, 1937– (Perso-Baluch Frontier Demarcation)’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:3v, 5r:9v, 11r:137v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence