File 1421/1908 Pt 3 'Persia: oil; negotiations between the Shaikh of Mohammerah and the Anglo-Persian Oil Co.' [‎281v] (128/338)

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3. The particular points raised by the correspondence, namely, ( 1 ) the preclusive
nature of the sheikh’s rights under his firmans, (2) the bearing of the original D’Arcy
concession upon those rights, (3) the question whether the sheikh’s lands in which
the company may wish to operate are “ State lands ” or “ other lands ” under article 3 A .,
of that concession, will doubtless be examined when the time comes by the legal
advisers to His Majesty’s Government. For the present they are not in practical issue,
and there seems therefore no object in my discussing them at length.
I should not omit to remark, however, that I do not know on what Mr. Black is
relying when he writes in his letter of the 25th August “ 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. is fully aware of the point that the sheikh possesses no mineral rights,”
nor is it the case that the Sheikh of Mohammerah made any such admission in the
same connection as that with which he is credited in Mr. Black’s later letter of the
26th August. As he had not his firmans with him at the time, and had a very hazy
idea of their precise wording and details, it is obviously unlikely that he woiild have
volunteered such a gratuitous admission, whether it were a fact or not.
4. In conclusion, I beg reference to Lieutenant Wilson’s letter of the 27th August
to my address, paragraph 4, and would observe that Deh Mulla and Hindian being
within a few miles of one another on the same river bank, and under the same
headman, it would be natural to regard them as one place, the other place referred to
being “ the lands east of the Karun ” a long way off.
A copy of this communication is being forwarded to His Majesty’s Minister,
Tehran, for information.
I have, &c.
R Z. COX,
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. , Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
Enclosure 2 in No. 1 .
Lieutenant Wilson to Lieutenant-Colonel Cox.
Sir, ' Mohammerah, July 16, 1910.
1 HAVE the honour to forward copies of correspondence on the subject of the
proposal of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company to commence boring for oil in the territories
of the Sheikh of Mohammerah at Ahwaz.
I have, &c.
A. T. WILSON,
Acting Coiisul.
Enclosure 3 in No. 1.
Lieutenant Wilson to Mr. Black.
Hear Black, Mohammerah, June 16, 1910.
WITH reference to the proposed commencement of drilling by you in the sheikh’s
territories near Ahwaz, I have discussed the question with Colonel Cox at Bushire.
I think it desirable that before you take any active steps you should write to me
officially stating precisely what your proposals are, and on what lines you desire to
conclude an agreement, bearing in mind that the sheikh is fully cognisant of the terms
of the Bakhtiari agreement of 1905, and is at present quite alive to the fact that they
have got 5,000L and about 3,000Z. a-year by bluffing you and persistently opposing
your work, whereas he has got 650Z. a-year only by helping you and doing all that is
possible to prevent your work being hampered.
Yours sincerely,
A. T. WILSON.