File 200/1928 Pt 10 'Persia: Anglo-Persian Relations. Treaty Negotiations' [‎423r] (846/868)

13
Xotes on Article VIII.
1. Barring certain amendments of wording which do not affect the sense,
and the omission dealt with in paragraph 6 below, this is the original British
draft. The latter is given in the annex, as it has so long held the field. It has
mever been discussed in detail from the drafting point of view, since until the
Treaty negotiations broke down in the summer of 1930 the Persians steadfastly
refused to consider even provisionally the abandonment of their claim to Tamb
and Abu Musa.
2. As regards Abu Musa, Teymourtache in October 1930 offered to abandon
the Persian claim if Persia were given Tamb. Sir R. Clive refused to discuss
this suggestion, as the Sheikh of Ras-el-Khaimah (the owner of Tamb, but not of
Abu Musa), refused to part with his island at any price, and His Majesty’s
Government could not surrender to Persia what was not theirs.
3. At a later stage Teymourtache said that his Government might be
content with a long lease of Tamb, the Sheikh keeping his garden on the island
[subsequent investigation showed that there was no garden] and enjoying
exemption from customs dues [the Sheikh, however, never resides on the island].
He suggested a fifty-year lease, the Sheikh to be paid whatever His Majesty’s
Government paid for the lease of Hen jam. Eventually, as a result of this
suggestion, the Sheikh was approached in the spring of 1931, and furnished
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. Agent with a statement of the terms on which he would
he willing to lease his island (see Annex II). The terms, it will be seen,
are unlikely to appeal to the Persians. The Admiralty suggested certain
alterations which would render the terms slightly more palatable while not
weakening their practical effect, but the matter was not pursued further. The
Sheikh stated, however, in September 1933 that he had received “ from Tehran ”
a letter concerning the lease of Tamb by the Persian Government. Whether there
is any truth in this is not yet known; he stated that he had not answered the
letter.
4. If it ever becomes possible to reach a solution on these lines, special
provision will have to be made for exempting the lighthouse staff from Persian
customs dues both on their personal effects and on official stores, and from the
necessity of obtaining visas (the nearest Persian consuls are at Basra and
Karachi) when arriving at or leaving the island.
5. It is not certain whether, in putting forward the offer referred to in
paragraph 3 above, Teymourtache did or did not throw into the bargain the
abandonment of the Persian claim to Abu Musa. Probably he did not (two
accounts by Sir R. Clive are conflicting in this respect), but in any case, as
Teymourtache is no longer in power, and his offer was an oral one, the whole
question would have to be taken up again from the beginning.
6. The reference to Hen jam in line 7 of the original British draft (see
Annex I) must have been due to some misunderstanding, as, of course, there has
never been any dispute regarding the sovereignty of Persia over that island.
Annex I.
Original British draft.
Les Hautes Parties Contractantes, dans 1’interet des relations amicales
actuellement si heureusement existantes entre elles, sont d’accord pour regarder
comme reglees par ces presentes sur la base du statu quo actuel toutes questions
pendantes quant a la souverainete sur certaines lies dans le golfe Persique autres
que celles mentionnees dans les articles .... (Hengam, Bassidou, Bahrein) du
present traite. Sont reconnues notamment la souverainete de Sa Majeste
imperiale le Schah sur Tile de Sirri et celles des Cheiks Jowazimi d’Oman sur
les lies de Tamb (avec Nabiyou-Tamb) et d’Abou-Moussa.
Annex II.
Statement of the Conditions required by the Sheikh of Ras-al-Khaimah for a
Lease of Tamb to the Persian Government.
Firstly, my flag, the Qasemi, and my representative should remain in the
island as before.