Abstract: This file consists of a memorandum of British relations with Khazal Khan, Shaikh of Mohammerah. The memorandum describes the inter-acting strategies over time of Khazal, the British Government and the Government of Persia, and reproduces the texts of British assurances of support given to Khazal. The memorandum goes on to describe Khazal's arrest and detention by Reza Shah in Tehran, and his death there eleven years later.The memorandum was written by Hugh K Grey, Foreign Office, in response to a claim made by Khazal's eldest son that British assurances given to his late father should pass over to him.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 12; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Abstract: This file consists of a memorandum written in the India Office Political Department, in which the author provides a summary of British and Indian interests in Persia, of the functions handed over to Persian authorities since the accession of Reza Shah, and of the principal British desiderata in on-going negotiations between the British and Persian Governments.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences and terminates at the first folio with 1; this numbers is written in pencil, is circled, and is located in the top right corner of the recto side of the folio.
Abstract: This file relates to British propaganda (in the form of food packages, radio broadcasts and literature) in Persia [Iran] during the first few months of the British and Russian occupation of the country. It contains correspondence discussing the internal affairs of Persia from a British perspective, as relayed to the Foreign Office by His Majesty's Ambassador in Tehran (Sir Reader William Bullard). Other prominent correspondents include the Secretary of State for India (Leo Amery) and officials of the Foreign Office and the Government of India's External Affairs Department.Matters discussed include the following:Political affairs in Persia, including appointments, resignations, and Cabinet reshuffles.Food shortages in Persia and a proposed 'propaganda scheme', whereby the Government of India would supply Persia with around one ton of sugar, from which small boxes of sugar would be distributed to the poor.The administration of the ex-Shah's [Reza Shah Pahlavi] estates.Proposed subjects for British and Government of India propaganda directed towards Persia, such as the position of the new Shah and the benefits of abolishing conscription.Bullard's proposal that food packages sent to Persia by the British should include the statement '[s]upplied by the British Empire'.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 1).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 71; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains a despatch from Sir Reader William Bullard of the British Legation, Tehran, detailing the visit of Dr Edvard Beneš, President of Czechoslovakia in exile, on the 28-30 December 1944, and particularly his interactions with Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 3; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence regarding a request from the Imperial Court of Persia for the recall of Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Dodd as British Military Attaché, due to a perceived slight by Dodd towards Reza Shah Pahlavi. The filealso covers an order from the Shah for Persian army officers to no longer socialise with Europeans. As well as Dodd, the primary correspondents are the Foreign Office and the British Legation, Tehran. Folios 105 and 113-116 are written in French.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 88, and terminates at f 152, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains papers relating to changes of Ministers heading the British Legation at Tehran, Persia [Iran]. It mainly consists of covering papers from the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State, India, enclosing copies of telegrams and letters from His Majesty’s Representative in Tehran to the Foreign Office. The telegrams mostly announce the arrival of the Ministers in Tehran and their assumption of charge of His Majesty’s Legation, and the letters mainly report on interviews with the Shah in which the new Ministers presented their credentials.It includes telegrams and letters from the following Ministers: Sir Percy Lorraine, Sir Robert Clive, Sir Reginald Hoare, Sir Hughe Knatchbull-Hugessen, and Sir Horace Seymour.Also included is a translated copy of a letter from Ali Quli Khan, Ansari, Persian Minister for Foreign Affairs, to His Majesty’s Charge d’Affaires, 29 July 1926 (folio 32), expressing the ‘deep regrets’ of the Persian Government at the departure of Sir Percy Lorraine, and requesting that ‘the gratitude of the high officials of the Persian Government’ be conveyed to Lorraine for his ‘sincere feeling toward this country’ and his policy of ‘consolidating the amity’ between Britain and Persia.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 32; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file details the Government of India’s financial and administrative responsibilities towards the Persian Gulf. The text is divided into sections: ‘Iran’ (folio 2), ‘Persian Gulf’ (folios 2 to 3), ‘The Air Route’ (folio 3), ‘Oil’ (folios 3 to 4) and ‘Defence Measures’ (folios 3 to 5).The papers provide information on the Government of India’s past and current responsibilities and relations with Iran. Also discussed are concerns over a potential Russian advance through Afghanistan and Persian-German relations which in part are attributed to the reign of Reza Shah [Shah of Iran, Pahlavi dynasty].The significance of the Persian Gulf as a strategic and commercial air route to India, and as a source of oil, now and in the future is discussed. Further highlighted is the responsibility of the Foreign Office and other departments to conduct relations with the Arab states of Kuwait, Bahrein, Qatar, the Trucial Coast and Muscat, and the implementation of wartime defence methods in the region.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 6; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence between HM Ambassador to Iran, the Secretary of State for India, and the Government of India, External Affairs Department, discussing the detestation felt by many in Iran for the Shah and for the British, who are perceived to have helped the Shah to seize power. It is suggested that British radio broadcasts in Persian should stress British support for the independence of smaller countries, avoid any suggestion of personal adulation of the Shah, and word carefully any mention of a possible consignment of Indian wheat to Iran.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 9; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence relating to changes within the Persian Government: the appointment and dismissal of ministers by the Shah of Persia (Reza Shah Pahlavi); the resignation or death during duty of ministers; the reorganisation of governmental departments (both central and provincial) at the instigation of the Shah.Items of note in the file include:A text containing a number of articles concerning changes to addresses and titles in the Persian royal and government hierarchy. The text is undated and with no indication of author, but is presumably a translation from the French or Persian and dates to around 1935, being part of the Shah’s programme of modernisation of Persian society (ff 102-103).A translation of regulations relating to the reorganisation of the Persian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ff 80-89).The correspondence is chiefly sent by various officials at the British Legation in Tehran (Robert Henry Clive, Reginald Hervey Hoare, Hughe Montgomery Knatchbull-Hugessen, Victor Alexander Louis Mallet, Nevile Montagu Butler, Horace James Seymour). A small number of items in the file are in French.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 142; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-141; these numbers are also written in pencil and circled, but are crossed through.
Abstract: Reports from HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Tehran, Reginald Hervey Hoare, and the British Ambassador in Turkey, Percy Lyham Loraine, along with newspaper cuttings from
The Times,
The Near East and Indiaand
The Evening Standard, reporting on the Shah of Persia’s [Reza Shah Pahlavi] visit to Turkey, including to Angora [Ankara]. The reports focus on: the Shah’s movements and meetings; speculation regarding the discussions that took place between the Shah and Turkish officials, including the prospect of an agreement between Persia [Iran], Turkey, Iraq, and Afghanistan; press coverage of the visit. The file includes one item in French, a newspaper cutting from the Persian newspaper
Le Messager de Teheran(f 5A).The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 44; these numbers are written in pencil and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Copies of intelligence summaries compiled on a fortnightly basis by the Military Attaché at the British Legation in Tehran (Gilbert Douglas Pybus, Herbert John Underwood, William A K Fraser), and received by the India Office via the Foreign Office. Many of the summaries are preceded by cover sheets and India Office notes sheets, the latter frequently containing handwritten notes giving a précis of the summary’s contents. The summaries cover a broad range of information, including: the activities of the Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi, the Crown Prince, and other members of the royal family; activities of the Iranian Government and its officials; activities, organisation and strength of the Iranian army and Iranian air force; communications and transport, including wireless radio, and civil aviation routes into and out of Iran; British interests in Iran, including oil companies, specifically the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company; foreign interests in Iran; the Iranian press, focussing specifically on its criticism of foreign press and actions; commercial activities in Iran, including mining and factory production; tribal matters, including those in the Bahmai and Baluchistan provinces, and the Qashqai; place name changes in Iran. Proceedings prior to and during the Second World War are also covered in the summaries. These include: German activity in Iran (commercial, political, propaganda, Nazi organisation); movements of peoples; public opinion in Iran in response to events in Europe in 1940; the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in August 1941; the abdication of Reza Shah Pahlavi; public opinion in Iran in the wake of the Anglo-Soviet invasion and occupation; social unrest and anti-British feeling.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 403; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: Correspondence concerning the movements of the former Shah of Persia [Iran], Reza Shah Pahlavi, in the wake of his enforced abdication by the British Government in September 1941. The papers cover: arrangements for the removal of Reza Shah from Persia; discussion amongst British officials over where the Shah should be sent into exile, with Mauritius, British East Africa [Kenya], the Seychelles, Canada, and South Africa all discussed; reports of Reza Shah’s departure from the Persian port of Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] on 27 September 1941 (ff 85-86, ff 80-82); arrangements for the passage of Reza Shah and his touring party; Reza Shah’s stay in Mauritius, and his opinion of the islands; Reza Shah’s passage to South Africa; the movements of other members of the Persian royal family, including Reza Shah’s wives and children. The file’s principal correspondents are: the British Minister at Tehran, Reader William Bullard; the Foreign Office; the Governor of Mauritius, Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford; the External Affairs Department of the Government of India.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 180; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.