Coll 30/24 'Persia and Persian Gulf, Persian Navy. Visits to Arab Ports' [‎414r] (836/908)

if challer^ged m to our light to spd&k on bahalf of th©
rulers of the Arab littoral* H# added tfmt Persia had nay or
gave very indirectly challenged our position in Kowiit.
The treaties under ^hieh we control the Ibrsign relations of
fct fracial Iheikhs had hmn officially comunicatsd to her
so recently as September 1928 in connection with the Taiob
incident. Muscat wm 9 of course* an independent State with
foreign treaties of its ©to. In the case of Bahrein the views
of both parties had been imd# abundantly clear internationally.
.^bkmLthat he doubted very mich J the
Para Ians would in fact be likely to send their ship® t©
Bahrein. The meeting, however, was inclined to the view that
the risk that they iiught do ao could not he overlooked, md
that in this event there be darker of an incident in the
event of their doing so.
Altar considerable further discussion, Mr> hauthwaite
said that xt seemed clear that, especially now that
negotiations had been suspended, we were not in a strong
position to broach again with the Persian Government the
ipmral puaatian of procedure in connection with the visits of
rduoe. 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. were disposed to agree with the
Resident as to the objections to allowing visits of Persian
ships to Arab ports without prior notification, hut the
difficulties foreseen by the Foreign Office, mm particularly
in connection with Bahrein, could not be ignored. On the
whole, the best course pH©babiy would b# to adopt a waiting
policy and t#§ how the situation developed. In tns event of a
decision to rswiove the l aval base f ns® Esnj^s to Bahrain, wc
should bs ®ors independent of Persia and might perhaps fii^-s
ourselves able to taka s stronger lino wi^h her over this
om at ion.
The discussion than turned to the possibility that
the Persian ships mipfai interfere with Arab dhows in the Gulf
Mr. haith ^a ^te said that the Persians could legitimately start, 1
dhows far c pnlj^M only in Persian territorial waters, thoum.
in/