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Coll 17/15(1) 'Perso-Iraq Relations: Persia-Iraq frontier; Persia's claim in the Shatt-el-Arab' [‎227v] (465/961)

The record is made up of 1 volume (476 folios). It was created in 1 May 1933-15 Mar 1935. 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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July 11th, 1933, complaining against Parviz Khan and certain other Persian Gust
officials, to invite attention to the Legation’s note No. 1968, dated August 22nd Um
Since the said officials did not violate Iraqi territory, and since the smuggled’^'
which they discovered were not elsewhere than in the dock belonging to the C
Persian Oil Company which appertains to the Persian harbour of Abbadan, the nroW
contained in the Ministry’s first memorandum is baseless.”
The eccentric behaviour of the Persian war-vessels and the irregularities of the Custom^
and Police departments have continued in 1934, and given rise to much correspondence
In October, the Iraqi Government was obliged to protest against a new activity •'the
Persian authorities, by threatening to refuse entry to cargo destined for Persia were
endeavouring to oblige ships anchored in the Shatt-al-Arab to fly the Persian instead of
the Iraqi flag. Finally, in November, the Iraqi Government instructed its Legation in
Teheran to protest in the following terms against the prolonged stay in Iraqi waters of
a gunboat to act as parentship to armed patrols :
[Translation.']
“ The Royal Iraqi Legation presents its compliments to the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs and bias the honour to state that it has come to the notice of the Iraqi
Government that the Persian gunboat Gailan has been moored in Abbadan Harbonr
since September 3rd, 1934, and is acting as a base ship from which armed ratings are
sent on patrol up and down the river at night. Since the right of navigation in the
Shatt-al-Arab which is secured to Persian vessels by Article 2 of the Treaty of Erzerum
never has been and cannot be held to cover the protracted stay of a war-vessel without
formal permission or the maintenance of river police or military patrol in Iraqi waters,
the Legation is instructed to enquire how long the Persian naval authorities desire
that the said gunboat shall remain in its present position and to request that
instructions shall be sent to the same authorities to discontinue patrols of the Mud
referred to.”
B. PERSIAN POLICE POSTS IN IRAQI TERRITORY.
Since June 1931, at various times, the following police posts have been erected by
the Persian authorities in Iraqi territory :
Place
Near
boundary-
Approximate date
Approximate date
1.
Chigha Surkh . . .
pillars
47
of establishment
June 1931
of withdrawal
August 1931
2.
Bajliya
22-23
September 1931
October 1934
3.
Shirish
18-19
January 1932

4.
Aiwa (Safariya) . .
18-19
July 1932

5.
Imam Nai Khidhr .
35
April 1932

6.
Kani Sukht ....
33-34
September 1934

The first post at Chigha Surkh gave little trouble ; the Persian Government admitted
the mistake made by its local agents and the post was dismantled a little over a month after
its construction.
In the autumn of 1931, the Persian frontier officials in the region adjoining the Iraqi
province of Amara appeared to be undertaking — quite legitimately — a programme o
administrative consolidation. In September it was found that they had built one of their
new police posts at Bajliya in Iraq ; also that Persian police cars were regularly using
tracks and that a telephone line had been constructed in Iraqi territory between pm aK
15 and 21 ; moreover, the Persian officials had established certain Persian tribesmen in
the lands _ of Shirish to the west of the Shatt-al-A’ma (which forms the boundary
between pillars 18 and 19, lands from which Iraqi tribesmen had been withdrawn ^
previous year with a view to the prevention of inter-tribal quarrels over the ngn
cultivation.
A long and profitless correspondence ensued, first between the Iraqi Mutasarrif of
Amara and the Persian Wali of Khuzistan, and later through the diplomatic channel.
c emandmg the withdrawal of the post at Bajliya, and later of two more posts insta
msh and Aiwa (Safariya), furnishing detailed descriptions and maps in suppor
statements and suggesting inspection by a joint committee of technical experts to resoi
any doubts as to the exact position of the places in question : Persia reiterating its elan
e p aces were in Persia and generally ignoring but sometimes refusing the propos
a joint enquiry on the spot.

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Content

The volume contains papers regarding relations between Persia [Iran] and Iraq. It primarily concerns the frontier delineated by the 1913-1914 Boundary Commission, in particular Persian claims over areas of the Shatt el-Arab, and rights to oilfields in the Naft Khana [Naft Khāna] or Khaniqin [Khāniqīn]area. The papers document renewed negotiations over the border, and include discussion of the following topics: Iraqi concerns over Persian military activities conducted in Iraq; Persia's refusal to recognise the validity of the 1914 Frontier Delimitation Protocol; attempts to redraw the frontier at the Shatt el-Arab along the thalweg [valley way], as opposed to the medium filum aquae ; proposals to revive the Shatt el-Arab Conservancy Board Scheme; and proposals for an agreement to regulate the exploitation of the oilfields in the transferred territories on the frontier near Khanqin, including the proposed creation of a special zone. These papers primarily consist of correspondence between the following: HM Ambassadors at Baghdad, Teheran and Italy; 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. Political Department; the Foreign Office (principally Sir John Simon, and J C Sterndale-Bennet); the Iraqi Minister for Foreign Affairs; and the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs.

In 1935 the Iraqi Government formally raised the question of the frontier with the Council of the League of Nations, and sought a Court ruling as to the validity of the 1914 Boundary Protocol. The Italian delegate to the League (Baron Pompeo Aloisi) was designated Rapporteur to the negotiations, and the volume contains correspondence between the Foreign Office and HM Ambassador in Rome, regarding a proposed Italo-Iraqi Treaty of Friendship, proposals regarding the frontier made by Aloisi, and general Italian influence over Iran and Iraq. The volume also includes copies of memoranda and minutes circulated by the League, in addition to correspondence regarding the negotiations in Geneva and Italy, and documents from the Committee of Imperial Defence Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East.

The volume includes a divider giving a list of correspondence references found in the volume by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 1).

Extent and format
1 volume (476 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 472; these numbers are written in pencil 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 front and back covers, along with the two leading and two ending flyleaves, have not been foliated.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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Coll 17/15(1) 'Perso-Iraq Relations: Persia-Iraq frontier; Persia's claim in the Shatt-el-Arab' [‎227v] (465/961), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2869, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100074341459.0x000042> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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