'File 82/34 II (F 94) APOC Concession' [‎131r] (222/362)

THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
BUSHiP 1
:f, SlD5NCY_
/;'/ ^ June 20, 1933.
(I 1 fisit —4
PERSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL. 1 — w ^rirt V v- — i Section 3.
[E 3269/17/34] No. 1.
Mr. Hoare to Sir John Simon — 20.)
j| r 0 260 :) 3, 1933.
1 HAVE the honour to report that the new Anglo-Persian Oil Company
Agreement passed its first reading in the Majlis on the 23rd May, having
nrevioush been passed by the National Economy, Budget and Foreign Affairs
Committees. The second reading took place on the 28th May and was passed
by a vote of 105 out of 113 Deputies present. There was no debate, but at the
suggestion of one of the Deputies an amendment was made m the translation
of a word in article 15 (2). I am endeavouring to obtain a copy of the Law
ratifying the agreement as passed by the Majlis, but I have not been able to
procure one in time for this bag. i i_ ^ ai. i. ^ oofi.
2 The law and the agreement were approved by the bhan on tne ^ytn May.
3 On the occasion of the first reading there was a certain amount ot
discussion, and I enclose a brief summary of the proceedings, together with a
translation of the table of statistics furnished by the Minister of Finance.
4. This table shows a surprising correspondence m many years between tne
profit which would have been available for the Persian Government under the
present agreement and that which they actually received under the D Arcy
Concession. In some years the royalty under the concession is even the greater.
Whly speaking, the wider the disproportion between the oil exported and the
profit made upon it, the greater the benefit accruing to tlie Persian Government
under the new agreement. The difference is particularly striking m v fry bad
years, such as 1931, when the payment of the royalty on t ^ na ?f ^
deprived—and in a sense will deprive owing to article 23 the shareholders
an? profit at all and involved an actual loss on the year s workmg ^ the
New Statesman, in the issue of the 13th May, has not been slow to pomt
5. I am sending copies of this despatch to His Majesty s consul at Ahwaz
(No 44) j have, &o.
E. H. HOAEE.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Extract from the Newspaper Iran of May 24, 1933.
Anglo-Persian Oil Company New Agreement.
THE new agreement was submitted yesterday, the 23rd May, to Parliament.
In preliminary debates on the general aspect the following points were
raised:—
1. Kashef stated that the privilege granted to the company under section 1
of article 6 to import necessities without special permits wiU weaken ^the eftect
of the Foreign Trade Monopoly Act, and it should be limited o e p
essential commodities oulv for the company's foreign statt.
The Minister of Finance gave assurances that care wlll / , e exer "f ^4 ^
such imports to goods required by the company s foreign staff, and p
that imports effected with foreign capital do not prejudice the ^ de
2. Eeferring to the exploitation of oil in Kermanshah, Mehdavi enquired
what steps would be taken if the company failed to inmiediateiy execute the r
undertaking. In such a case, reference to arbitration would not remedy the loss
of revenue to the public even if the company were forced o pa}
5 million (rials).
[831 u—3]