File 3122/1921 Pt 1 'Persia: Quarantine arrangements' [‎410r] (815/1174)

Copy o± a letter from the iiaval Commander-in-GMef,
Sast Indies Station, to the Secretary to file Government of
India, Marine Department, Delhi, 30.1.1.651, dated luth
December 1925.
£>aBLISMf T OF 4 S0ABAHTIH1 BASJ AT
M dm&k »
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter No,13Q84,i of l?th November 1925, and to inform you
that in view of the convenient position of Hen jam as a base
for iI.M.ahips and of the extensive use at present made of it
by vessels of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Division, it is considered
most undesirable that any action should be taken which would
be likely to draw attention to the British position in this
island•
A concession exists for the telegraph station only ,,
and no consent has ever been given by the Persian Government
to the establishment of the present customs free Coaling
and Storing Sub-base on Persian territory, although within
the area of the concession.
2. If the suggested quarantine station is a portion of a
scheme for the prevention of the spread of plague etc.
outside the Gulf, it is considered that Bunder Abbas, where
there is already a quarantine station and staff, would be
equally convenient, and much to be preferred from a naval
point of view.
3* If on the contrary it is intended merely to prevent the
spread of disease in the Gulf, it is observed that the
population of the island of Hen jam is very small, and the
transhipment of passengers there insi^aificant.
4* For the reasons stated abo/e, I am strongly averse to
the establishment of a quarantine station at Hen jam.