'File 3/2 Interference with Kuwait Sailing Craft on High Seas by Persian warships.' [‎262r] (523/550)

30PY
(256/5/49)
'1
QN?I J3NTIAL.
British Embassy,
Tehran.
10 th I'ay, 1949.
Dear Department,
There are two questions about Bahrain and Oulf Sheikh
doms generally on which we should be grateful for guidance.
Either through lack of continuity or because we have packed
up a number^of files, we have been unable to find adequate
precedents in our archives.
. first concerns the protection of subjects of gulf
Sheikhdoms vis-a-vis the Persian authorities while in Persia.
r e -,t 0lltlcal ^£ enc y ati Kuwait recently asked the Consulate
at rJiora-amshahr, at the request of the Sheikh of Kuwait to
assist some of His Highness’s subjects who owned land in
Khuzistan and who were being subjected to vexatious demands
a official. In the last few days a representative
oi the Kuwaitis in question has called at the Embassy and in
reply to his requests for help, we have put him in touch with
a suitable official at the I inistry of Justice, without
specifying the nature of his business or actually arranging
cn interview. ^s the Persian Covernment presumablv regard al'
subjects of the Culf Sheikhdoms - and a "ortiori those in
j ersia ^- as iersian nationals, to take any official action
on their behalf would, we think, be to court a rebuff and
might possibly do more harm than good to the aggrieved partis
The second question concerns the formalities to be
observed^ oy .rersian nationals entering the territory of the
ruli sheikhdoms. ^ A Persian official on anti-locust work
recently arrived in Dubai from Bandar Abbas to establish
contact with a Pakistani anti-locust party and asked whether
tne^political Officer. Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. had any objection to his
visiting on of the locust breeding areas. The Political
Officer saw no objection but requested the Persian official to
call at the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . On finding that his only travel document
was one valid lor travel ’’from one port in Iran to another”
he Iolitical Officer informed him that in view of his ’ ork*
he wo ild be allowed to remain but that he must report a-ain
before departure and that for any future visits he should
have valid documents. The Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 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. have asked
us to take the matter up with the appropriate Ministry.
Presumably no contravention of the immigration regulations
of t j.x6 Sheikhdoms should be allowed to pass unchallenged
particularly where acquiescence might imply derogation of the
rights of ms Majesty's Government and of the Hulers. It may
however, be necessary for the exact form of action to vary
according to the circumstances. Thus traveller of no import
ance might be deported; the master of the craft in which he
traveiled might be.imprisoned or fined; while, as in the case
of the .^ersian official referred to above, the offence mi.vht
go unpunished provided that the offender was made to realise
the nature of his offence. It seems to us an open question
whet/her ofiicial action should be taken in Tehran after each
offence. ^ In the present circumstances we see no reason why
this should not be done. It is, however, highly improbable
tuat such action would ever result in the Persians conforming
to oar requirements since to do so woaid very seriously weaken
their claims to the territories in question.
The/
Eastern Department,
foreign Office,
London, SAY. 1.