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File 4011/1923 Pt 2 'PERSIAN GULF: NEGOTIATIONS 1928 HENJAM' [362r] (728/1934)
The record is made up of 1 volume (962 folios). It was created in 6 Jul 1926-25 Jan 1934. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT.
PEESIA.
CONFIDENTIAL
|E 6027/143/34;
No. 526.)
ir, Tehran, October 28, 1930.
ON* the occasion of a farewell luncheon party which was given to me by the
Minister for Foreign Affairs, at which the Minister of Court was present, a long
conversation took place before I left on the subject of the treaty.
2. Teymourtache began by saying that he had been very disappointed at
reading the recent Foreign Office memorandum on the subject of the treaty, which
he found stiff and unbending. He had had the feeling that in the last month or two
the atmosphere had changed and that little progress had been made. I interrupted
him to say that I had had the impression myself on the occasion of my recent audience
with the Shah that His Majesty appeared to be quite indifferent as to whether we
made a treaty or not, and that he had made, what seemed to me, an extraordinary
statement when he had said that he was unaware whether His Majesty’s Government
wished to see Persia weak or strong. Teymourtache assured me that His Majesty
was not indifferent to the treaty, but he was unable to give me any satisfactory
explanation of His Majesty’s remark. I said that His Majesty’s Government felt,
and, in my opinion, rightly felt, that the Persian Government had shown little or
no appreciation of the various concessions we had made and of the very generous
desire on our part, of which we had given ample proof, to dissipate in the interests
of future good relations all possible causes of dispute or misunderstanding. I
referred, in this connexion, to my letter to Feroughi of the 1st October, in which
we had not only accepted the Persian counter-proposal about the Duzdap Railway as
a basis of settlement of this question at a probable annual cost of several thousand
pounds to the Government of India, but, in deference to their wishes, we had
consented to remove the
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.
from Bushire, which would again entail the
bovernment of India in the expenditure of many thousands of pounds, while, in
regard to the question of telegraphs, His Majesty’s Government had decided to
remove the department from Persia, subject to certain minor conditions in the south,
and to forgo claims which, on the basis of Mr. New’s memorandum, of which he
tad a copy, amounted to some £150,000.
3. His Highness said he readily admitted the generosity of His Majesty’s
overnment in these matters, and it was quite untrue that the Persian Government
tl a PP. rec ^ a b e it 5 hut he hoped I would still try to represent to my Government
e dimculties of his own. From the Persian point of view Bahrein was the crux
o ne whole matter, and though we had agreed that in the treaty there should be
in° f in ?L 0 ^ nc ^? a t e that °ue point was a definite set-off against some other point, yet
hit . c ? ns ih er ed that His Majesty’s Government had, in order to clear up the
u ure position of Bahrein, agreed in principle to make various concessions. I said
was all very well for him to insist on the Persian point of view about Bahrein,
dai t I1 d IS l r ? mem ker that we denied altogether the justification of the Persian
„ 1111 ? Bahrein. The concessions that we were making were very largely voluntary
tan?hl 10I1 v,• ^ or< ^ er h) clear up any possible sources of future friction. The only .
rep-ii 1 6 thing we were getting out of this treaty was the Hen jam Protocol to
Hg . ans c a position which had existed for some twenty-five years, and yet in the
why^f 111 . ro t° co l there were a number of points which were quite unsatisfactory;
°f ^ >ers ^ ans still want to keep an unnecessarily large number
lessee of
-—^ vjx lug isicluu, ue iree to uo vvnat mey
paying a rent ? Why did the Persians wish to confine us to the
a military force? Why could not His Majesty’s Government, as a
for wWh s 1 ma ^ P ar t the island, be free to do what they wanted in the small area
use of fh were Paying a rent ? Why did the Persians wish to confine us to the
often b ^ Wlr . e ^ ess f or communication with British warships only ? There might
flyinch 6 C ! Cc . asi0Ils yhen it would be necessary to communicate with His Majesty’s
he had ° atS m ^ GMF or with merchant ships. His Highness said that, personally,
op f rom no °t ) 3®ction to the wireless station receiving messages from the flying boats
purpose me y a ?i ships, provided that the wireless was not used for commercial
f s - I said there was no question of this; what we objected to were the
[282 f-i] T
About this item
- Content
This volume relates to British policy regarding the Gulf island of Henjam [Jazīreh-ye Hengām], occupied in part, on and off, by the British since the late nineteenth century.
Interdepartmental correspondence refers to the establishment of a British telegraph station on the island in 1868, following a concession from the Persian Government, which was abandoned in 1881 but re-established in 1904. The correspondence also acknowledges that further developments since then, including the establishment of a wireless station and a naval coal depot, represent an encroachment by the British Government.
The main topic of discussion is the extent of the British claim (or lack thereof) to Henjam, and the continued use of the island as a fuelling and recreational station for British naval forces in the Gulf.
Related matters of discussion include the following:
- The possibility of consolidating the British position at Henjam by offering to surrender Basidu to Persia
- The British response to Persian forces expelling the Arab Shaikh of Henjam from the island in May 1928, in retaliation for the Shaikh attacking and looting the island's customs office the previous year
- The drafting of a protocol (as part of wider Anglo-Persian negotiations, which are referred to throughout) in 1929 between the British and Persian governments, setting out the terms for the British Government's surrender of its claims to Basidu and Henjam, in return for continued access to facilities at Henjam, possibly in the form of a lease
- The consideration of alternative locations for a naval station, in the event of it being necessary for the British to relinquish their hold on Henjam
- Whether the British should be prepared to offer the Persian Navy docking and refitting facilities at Bombay or Karachi, on 'favourable terms', in return for their continued use of the facilities at Henjam
- A request from the Persian Government in September 1932 for the immediate withdrawal of the British naval establishment, following the Persian Government's decision to use Henjam as the location for six recently purchased naval vessels
- The possibility of the British naval depot at Henjam being relocated either to Basidu or Bahrein [Bahrain].
The volume features the following principal correspondents: the British Minister in Tehran, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and officials of the Admiralty, the Foreign Office, and 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. . Other notable correspondents include the following: 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. ; the Viceroy of India; the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India; the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs; officials of the British Legation at Tehran and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.
Also included in the volume are the following: a précis of printed correspondence relating to British positions at Basidu and Henjam, covering the period 1821-1905 (ff 898-941); an 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. memorandum entitled 'Henjam. Position and Rights of His Majesty's Government in the Island of Henjam', dated 26 September 1928 (ff 723-726); copies of the minutes of two meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East, dated 17 December 1931 (ff 249-262) and 10 October 1933 (ff 12-28); a copy of a memorandum by the Admiralty and the Foreign Office on the British naval depot at Henjam, dated 23 February 1932 (ff 197-208).
The French language material consists of correspondence from Belgian customs officials writing on behalf of the Persian Government, as well as articles from the aforementioned draft protocol, and correspondence between the Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs and the British Minister at Tehran. English translations are included in some but not all cases.
The volume includes two dividers which give the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (ff 4-5).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (962 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 4011 ( Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Negotiations) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/1094-1095. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 964; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/1095
- Title
- File 4011/1923 Pt 2 'PERSIAN GULF: NEGOTIATIONS 1928 HENJAM'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:7v, 10r:46r, 47v, 49r:60r, 61r:68v, 71r:104v, 106r:117v, 119r:192v, 194r:241v, 243r:283v, 285r:288v, 290r:368v, 370r:401v, 405r:406v, 408r:422v, 425r:471v, 475r:487v, 489r:490v, 492r:516v, 521r:532v, 534r:565v, 572r:610v, 612r:612v, 615r:627r, 629r:654v, 660r:668v, 678r:692v, 694r:792v, 794r:802v, 805r:812r, 813r:854v, 855ar:855av, 855r:859v, 862r:870v, 873r:877v, 880r:911r, 912r:921r, 922r:922v, 924v:932r, 933v:939v, 940v:963v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence