Coll 30/90 'Persian claim to the island of Bahrain' [509r] (1030/1062)
The record is made up of 1 file in 3 parts (519 folios). It was created in 25 May 1934-23 Sep 1948. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
c est au sujet de ce principe qne le Gonvernement
Abdol Aziz-Ebn-Seoud en mai 1927.
, 0 est pom ces considerations qne le Gouvernement imperial a proteste et
dJA*] m amtient sa protestation centre Particle 6 du Traite de Dieddah dn 20 mai
1927, relatit anx lies de Bahrein.
Mon Gouvernement espere qne le Gonvernement de Sa Majeste britannique se
rendra aux considerations historiques et juridiques ci-dessus invoquees et qu’il
reconnaitra volontiers qu’une telle disposition ne pent avoir d’effet que si elle a
ete conclue avec 1’Etat persan, Souverain legitime des lies de Bahrein.
Veuillez, &c.
F. PAKREVAN.
[E 853/33/91]
(D)
Sir Austen Chamberlain to Hovhannes Khan Mossaed,
Foreign Office, February 18, 1929.
Sir,
IN a note dated the 18th January, 1928, I had the honour to inform you, in
reply to your note of the 26th November, 1927, respecting the claim advanced by
your Government to the islands of Bahrein, that His Majesty’s Government in the
United Kingdom were not aware of any valid grounds upon which the claim of
the Persian Government to sovereignty over those islands was or could be based.
Some months later, on the 2nd August, 1928, the Persian Acting Minister for
Foreign Affairs addressed to His Majesty’s Charge d’Affaires at Tehran a further
note explaining in detail the reasons which have led his Government to consider
themselves justified in advancing such a claim. I now have the honour to request
that you will convey to your Government the following reply :—
2. His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom have examined with
the greatest care the views set forth in the Persian Government’s note of the
2nd August, and have endeavoured to extract from the many unsupported
declarations that Bahrein forms an integral part of Persia (a statement which,
as I have already indicated in my note under reference, bears no relation to
geographical facts), the essential arguments on which this claim is based. They
note that the Persian Government do not in any way base their claim on the
alleged recognition of their rights in the past by His Majesty’s Government. So
far as can be deduced from their note under reply, their claim is, in fact, founded
on three main arguments : Firstly, on uninterrupted possession except for the
period of Portuguese occupation between 1507 and 1622; secondly, on an alleged
principle of international law that a territory belonging to a sovereign State
cannot be lawfully detached so long as its annexation by another State or its
independence have not been officially recognised by the lawful owner of the
territory; and thirdly, on documents of a date later than the end of the
18th century, in which the sheikhs of the islands are alleged to have declared
their submission to the Persian Government, and on the alleged payment by them
of tribute to the Persian Government. After full examination of these arguments
His Majesty’s Government have reached the conclusion, for the reasons given
below, that they entirely fail to substantiate a Persian claim to sovereignty ovei
the islands at the present day.
3. In the first place, the statement that “Bahrein has always and
uninterruptedly formed part of Persia in past centuries, except during the
Portuguese occupation from 1507 to 1622 ” is not one which can be allowed to
pass unquestioned. I have already drawn attention to the evident tact that
geographically this, assertion is misleading. Historically it is almost equa }
misleading. The earlier history of the islands before 1507 is obscure, but it cannot
seriously be maintained that they were subject to Persian sovereignty all thioug
the Arab, Mongol and Tartar invasions and the anarchy of the Middle Ages _ Un
the contrary, modern historians have expressed the opinion that ±rom the o
About this item
- Content
The file concerns the claim of the Government of Iran (generally referred to as the Government of Persia) to territorial sovereignty over Bahrein [Bahrain].
The papers include: the Iranian claim in the light of the Bahrain oil concession; representations by the Government of Iran to the League of Nations, and the involvement of League in the dispute; summary of diplomatic correspondence, 1927-29 (folios 506-511); 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. 'Historical Memorandum on Bahrein', dated 14 July 1934 - a historical summary of the political status of Bahrain, and Persian claims to sovereignty; the submission of the question by 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. to the Law Officers of the Crown, 1934 (folios 466-472), and the report of the Law Officers of the Crown (folios 400-403), stating their opinion that Persia had no rights of sovereignty or suzerainty over Bahrain; the view of the Foreign Office (subsequently adopted) that references in public pronouncements to the independence of Bahrain needed to be qualified by the statement that the ruler was 'in special treaty relations with His Majesty's Government' (folios 378-380); the status of Tamb and Abu Musa (folio 361); the imposition of Iranian import duty on aviation oil supplied to Bahrain (folios 315-316); the views of the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. on the dangers of submitting the question to international arbitration (folios 308-314); similarities to the dispute between the United States of America (USA) and the Netherlands over Palmas Island [Miangas or Palmas, Indonesia] (e.g. folios 306-307); the views of the Government of Saudi Arabia (folios 268-270); the issue of passports and visas; transcripts of articles in support of the Iranian position in the Iranian and Arabic language press; the effect of the Bahrain nationality and property laws; Italian propaganda in support of the Iranian claim (folio 243); comparison with the Falkland Islands (folio 210); the refusal of the Iranian postal authorities to accept mails from Bahrain (folio 186); the involvement of the United Nations Organisation; Foreign Office 'Memorandum on Bahrein', dated 13 January 1947, substantially based on 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. 'Historical Memorandum on Bahrein' of 1934 (folios 97-126); Soviet propaganda over Bahrain (folio 57); the presence in Tehran of a person claiming to represent the Bahrain National Party (folios 50-54); and correspondence dated 1948 concerning the size and position of the Persian community in Bahrain, including a letter on the subject from Charles Dalrymple Belgrave, Adviser to the Government of Bahrain (folios 25-37).
The file contains significant correspondence from the Foreign Office, HM Minister, Tehran (later the British Ambassador to Tehran), and the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
The French language content of the file consists of approximately thirty folios of diplomatic correspondence and newspaper extracts.
The file also contains copies of earlier correspondence, dated 1927-31.
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 in 3 parts (519 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: this file consists of three physical parts. The foliation sequence commences at the front cover of part one with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover of part three with 525; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-524; these numbers are printed, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 30/90 'Persian claim to the island of Bahrain' [509r] (1030/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/3810, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100059426988.0x00001f> [accessed 26 March 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/3810
- Title
- Coll 30/90 'Persian claim to the island of Bahrain'
- Pages
- 118r, 119r:121r, 123r:125v, 210r, 211r, 228r:229v, 232r:232v, 239r:239v, 241r:241v, 246r:246v, 249r:249v, 277r:278v, 428r, 429r:431r, 434r:438v, 503r:509r, 514r:514v
- Author
- Iran, Minister for Foreign Affairs
- Usage terms
- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.