مجموعة ‎٢٨ /٩٥ "بلاد فارس. العلاقات مع الحكومة البريطانية.‏ المطالبات الخاصة ضد الحكومة البريطانية‏: قضية السفينة البخارية "كارا دينيز‏"." [و‎‎٨‎٥] (٦٩١/١٦٩)

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BRITISH CLAIMS AGAINST PERSIA.
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General Review.*
I.
1. In his despatch No. 69 of the 18th February, 1933, Sir R. Hoare enclosed (Appendix i.)
comprehensive lists of all our claims preferred in the past against the Persian
authorities and still outstanding, so far as these could be traced in the Legation
and in our consulates in the outlying districts of Persia. In a further despatch.
No. 162 of the 7th April, 1933, he enclosed a short supplementary list, mainly
relating to losses incurred by the staff of the Imperial Bank of Persia during the
war. These lists had been in course of preparation for some ten years, and they
were accompanied by files of the Legation correspondence, so far as this could be
furnished, and by statements and documents supplied by the fourteen consulates,
so far as their existing archives, which had suffered depletion during the war,
permitted.
2. In his despatch No. 69, Sir R. Hoare disposed these claims in five
groups :—
(A) The Legation Claims, i.e., a main body of claims dealt with at Tehran—
set out in a schedule.
(B) The Consulate Claims, i.e., those returned by the various consulates,
under instructions sent by the Legation in 1924—set out in separate
lists.
(C) Denials of Justice, i.e., those in which proceedings in the local courts in
the past had failed to procure justice—set out in Annex III to the
despatch.
(D) Imperial Bank of Persia Claims for the looting of their branches during
the war—summarised in Annex IV.
(E) Staff of the Imperial Bank of Persia for their private losses, mainly
during the war—set out in the supplementary list.
3. The distinction between (A) the Legation claims and (B) the consulate
claims results from the procedure followed in Persia (in all but a few instances)
that a claimant lodged his claim with the British consul in whose district it
arose. In his annual report for 1911, Sir G. Barclay, our former Minister
(referring to highway robberies), said the practice was that, as soon as a claim
was presented to His Majesty’s consular officer (in the district concerned), it was
notified by him to the (Persian) Foreign Office Agent and the Governor, and
every effort was made to induce the local authorities to take immediate steps for
the recapture and restitution of the stolen property; when no further prospect
of settlement in this direction appeared, the more important cases were referred
to His Majesty’s Legation; a statement was then submitted to the Persian
Government, who were warned that, failing a settlement locally, the value of the
losses would be claimed from the Central Government. The annual reports of
the time show that a tabular statement of British claims filed at the Legation
was forwarded annually towards the close of the year to the Persian Govern
ment, setting out the amounts claimed in respect of Tehran and each of the other
British consulates; in 1913, e.g., the amount thus claimed was £119,022. This
practice was maintained until 1918, after which it was dropped. It follows that,
while we may expect from our Legation evidence as regards claims lodged at
Tehran, we are mainly dependent on returns furnished by our consulates else
where as regards claims originally lodged with them.
4. The claims comprised in the five groups range from 1892 to 1930—
nearly forty years; a period that saw many changes in Persia, and a develop
ment from semi-barbarous conditions under which but a loose control was
exercised over the component tribes, to the somewhat more stable conditions of
the present day. Originally, the Government was an absolute monarchy,
resembling in temporal matters that of the former Ottoman Empire, the country
being divided into satrapies or provinces, with Governors who were appointed
by, and responsible to, the Crown; in 1906 a Constitution was granted by the
* The original of this memorandum is bound together with Appendices 1 and 2 below in a
volume entitled Persia Claims (General Review) (Persia 36).
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