File 1421/1908 Pt 3 'Persia: oil; negotiations between the Shaikh of Mohammerah and the Anglo-Persian Oil Co.' [‎297r] (159/338)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty s Governmental
PERSIA.
CONFIDENTIAL.
[June 6 .]
Section 9.
[20023]
Mr. Marling to Sir Edward Grey.—(Received June 6 .)
(No. 71.)
Sir, ^ Tehran, May 14, 1910.
WITH reference to my telegrams No. 194 of the 28th April and No. 207tof the l
2 nd May, I have the honour to report that the question of the right of the Sheikh of
Mohammerah to lease land on Abadan Island to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was
first alluded to by Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad in conversation with His Majesty’s Minister shortly
before my arrival here, and was again brought up by him, but in a much more definite
manner, at an interview which Mr. Churchill had with him on the 29th ultimo. The
Minister of the Interior spoke in a peremptory tone, and demanded to be supplied with
full particulars of the transaction. He asserted that Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Arfa had no right to lease
or sell land, as it all belonged to the State, and stated that the Persian Government
were about to appoint a commission to go to Mohammerah to investigate the transaction
and assess the amount for which Sheikh Khazal was liable to the Government on
account of State lands leased or sold by him. The Government would have no difficulty
in dealing with the sheikh, forcibly if necessary, and they could even dismiss him and
appoint another chief in his place. In reply, Mr. Churchill warned the Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad
against taking any action that might be prejudicial to the company’s interests, and
hinted also that perhaps His Majesty’s Government might have some understanding
with the sheikh by which he would be entitled to their support against the Persian
Government.
Your telegram No. 115 of the 28th April reached me just at the moment when the
restoration of the old Cabinet, in spite of the strenuous opposition of the two legations
to the retention in it of Sani-ed-Dowleh, and the openly defiant attitude of Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division.
Assad rendered a certain degree of aloofness on the part of the legation desirable, and
instead of sending Mr. Churchill to give Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad a strong warning, I thought it
better to act through Mr. Preece, who arrived recently in Tehran, and whose past
relations with the Bakhtiaris made it easy for him to convey a message from me.
Mr. Preece accordingly saw Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad on the 2 nd instant, and pointed out that
under the terms of the concession the oil company were entitled to conclude arrange
ments with Persian subjects for the acquisition or lease of land without the interference
of the Persian Government, that the concessionnaires had recently agreed to pay
o, 000 /. to the Bakhtiaris in connection with the agreement to acquire land for the
laying of the pipe line without tbe Persian Government being consulted, and throughout
the history of the oil concession both the Bakhtiari khans and the legation had always
held that the dealings between the former and the company in no way came under the
control of the Persian Government. The legation held the same view in the present
case, and Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad, as a Bakhtiari, could not hold the opposite. Mr. Preece added
that, as a friend, he could tell Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad that His Majesty s Government would
not allow any interference with the Sheikh of Mohammerah that might create complica
tions for the oil company. Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad, whom Mr. Preece thought had been to a
considerable degree sobered by the warnings I have recently had to send him of the
danger to his own position if he persisted in his unfriendly attitude to His Majesty s
Government, professed to acquiesce in these views, and promised that the Persian
Government would take no further action in the matter, and that the commission
mentioned above would not go to Mohammerah.
I will not fail to take a favourable opportunity to give a similar warning to the
new Minister of the Interior.
There can be no doubt that the object of Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Assad in desiring to raise this
question was in the first instance to obtain for himself a part ot the moneys advanced
to the sheikh either as loan or as rent, but he may also have desired to embroil his
tribal enemy with the Persian Government. .
As to the title of the sheikh to the lands in question, I have ascertained trom His
Majesty’s consul at Aiohammerah that they derive firstly from hereditary occupation, as
is the case with the Bakhtiaris and other tribes, and secondly from a grant by Imperial
firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). . The firman A Persian word meaning a royal order or decree issued by a sovereign, used notably in the Ottoman Empire (sometimes written ‘phirmaund’). explicitly forbids the sale of the lands, so that by mlerence we
may properly assume that they may be leased.
I have, &c.
CHARLES M. MARLING.