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File 200/1928 Pt 10 'Persia: Anglo-Persian Relations. Treaty Negotiations' [‎170v] (341/868)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (432 folios). It was created in 24 Jan 1934-5 Aug 1936. 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. .

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2
support of their contention. The mere fact that the Persians have in the last few
days again reiterated their claim is not, in my view, necessarily of special importance.
As my colleagues are aware, the claim has been reiterated at frequent intervals over
a very long period of time, and this is not the first occasion on which it has been
asserted in connection with the oil concession at Bahrein. The policy now suggested,
involving, as it does, the evacuation of Basidu and Henjam, would, in my view, give
the Persians everything that they could have hoped to obtain by the most successful
course of ordinary diplomatic negotiation, without securing any compensating quid pro
quo for His Majesty’s Government.
5. But the policy in question is also open to the disadvantage of being needlessly
provocative. Action such as the Foreign Office suggest in the case of Bahrein, unless
and until it is forced upon us by Persian intransigence at Basidu and Henjam, might
well place us on worse ground internationally; would, as I have already suggested,
be calculated to provoke Persia, uuless she is prepared to abandon her claim
altogether, to use every method of endeavouring to bring it before the League ; and
would afford a colourable justification to critics who might allege that we were
without excuse adopting an aggressive policy towards Persia. Moreover, I cannot
but feel that insufficient consideration appears to have been given to the probable
effect of action on these lines on the Shah. All our information tends to show that
he is quick to irritation and likely when really provoked to lose sight completely
of his own best interests. Can we be sure that in the event of our throwing down
a challenge such as the Foreign Office suggest we might not provoke a really serious
situation which would result not only in the evacuation of Henjam and Basidu, and
possibly (a question of relatively minor importance) in the removal of 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.
from Bushire; but, a matter in my view of great importance, in very unfortunate
reactions on the Anglo“Persian Oil Company ? Relations between the Company and
the Shah and his Government are at the moment extremely cordial. But we could
not, I fear, rely upon that to make any very great difference to the attitude adopted
by Reza Shah in the event of his being provoked to conduct a general offensive
against His Majesty’s Government. I am all for a firm line. But I see no weakness
in standing by the status quo t and no profit in a course which, save in the case of
Bahrein, avoids friction by concession; which in the case of Bahrein is aggressive
lather than firm j and which seems likely to result in no tangible compensating
advantage to us.
6. In these circumstances, in the light of the discussion in the Official Middle
Last Sub-Committee on 4th May, and in view of the fact that the Persians have now
taken the initiative in letting the negotiations lapse, I am myself strongly in favour
of course (e) of the courses then considered by the Official Sub-Committee—in other
words, of adopting a policy of “wait and see.” I agree that there are possible
disadvantages in such a policy. But the result of seven years’negotiation has been
such as to leave us, in my view, with no alternative, and while we might have
adopted a rather stronger course had the treaty negotiations still been in being, now
that the I ersians have themselves indicated that they are not prepared to resume
them, except on terms which would, I imagine, be quite unacceptable to us, there is
much to be said, in my view, for taking them at their word, bins course appears to
have the advantage of incurring less risk than any other of disturbing the actual
status quo in the Gulf which we desire, if possible, to maintain. Ido not ignore
the possibility that the Persians may further challenge our position at Basidu and
Henjam. If they do, we shall have to consider the action to be taken in the light of
the circumstances of the time ; but I would not take a decision in advance.^ The
same is true of the position of 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 same, finally, is
true of Bahrein. In the case of Bahrein, in particular, the course of action to be
adopted b^ His Majesty s Government will essentially depend on the circumstances
in which the matter has come up and the general situation at the time. But the
adoption of the policy which I now advocate would, I suggest, leave us no worse off
than e are at present, would leave us, at any rate for the present, in possession of
Basidu and Henjam (and, while our title to either is rather weak, both may be
useful bargaining counters in any compromise which it might ultimately be necessary
to reach) ; would avoid the expense which would be involved in any removal of 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. ; would allow us to continue to deal with Bahrein on the familiar lines of
protests and replies; and finally would leave the Anglo-Persian Oil Company to
puisue its vvoik as at present. It would not be inconsistent with our protesting
strongly to Persia in the event of further interference by her with the dhows of our

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Content

This volume contains correspondence regarding wide-ranging negotiations that took place between the Persian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the British Legation in Tehran, the aim of which was the agreement of a bilateral treaty between the British and Persian [Iranian] governments in order to resolve a number of outstanding issues including the status of Basidu.

In addition to correspondence, the volume contains the following documents:

  • 'Speech by His Imperial Majesty the Shah at the Majlis on the Day of its Reopening for the Tenth term, Khordad 5, 1314 June 6,1935); (folio 34)
  • 'Memorandum by Mr. Eden upon a Conversation at Geneva on May 22, 1935, with M. Kazemi, the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, respecting Anglo-Persian relations' (folio 45)
  • 'Anglo-Persian Relations. Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen's conversation with Persian Minister.' (folios 119-122)
  • 'Committee of Imperial Defence. Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East. Minutes of a meeting of the Sub-Committee held at No. 2, Whitehall Gardens, S.W.1. on Thursday, 25th October, 1934, at 3.30 p.m.' (folios 130-137)
  • 'Committee of Imperial Defence. Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East. Minutes of the Thirty-fifth meeting of the Sub-Committee, held at No. 2, Whitehall Gardens, S.W.1., on Friday, October 12th, 1934, at 3,30 p.m.' (folios 151-168)
  • 'Committee of Imperial Defence. Standing Ministerial Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East. Bahrein. Memorandum by Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.' (folio 169)
  • 'Committee of Imperial Defence. Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East. Minutes of a meeting of the Sub-Committee held in the Room of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, House of Commons, S.W.1, on Monday, June 11th, 1934, at 4.0 p.m.' (folios 261-276)
  • 'Relations with Persia. Admiralty Memorandum', 1934 (folios 284-289)
  • 'Committee of Imperial Defence. Standing Ministerial Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East. Persian Policy. Memorandum by the Secretary of State for India', 1934 (folios 290-291)
  • 'Persia. Memorandum by Sir R. Vansittart' Foreign Office, 1934 (folios 316-317)
  • 'Committee of Imperial Defence. Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East. Minutes of a meeting of the Sub-Committee held in Conference Room 'A', No. 2, Whitehall Gardens, SW1, on Friday, May 4th, 1934, at 3.45 p.m.' (folios 355-378)
  • 'Proposed Anglo-Persian General Treaty. Position reached on January 17, 1934' (folios 417-431).

The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (432 folios)
Arrangement

The subject 200 (Anglo-Persian Treaty Negotiations) consists of eight volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/1250-1257. The volumes are divided into ten parts, with parts 1 and 2 comprising one volume, parts 3, 4 and 5 comprising one volume each, parts 6 and 7 comprising the fifth volume, and parts 8, 9 and 10 comprising one volume each.

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 433; 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
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File 200/1928 Pt 10 'Persia: Anglo-Persian Relations. Treaty Negotiations' [‎170v] (341/868), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1257, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100066374631.0x000090> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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