Abstract: Correspondence and other papers concerning the Persian [Iranian] Government’s renewed desire in 1937 to finalise a treaty of friendship between Britain and Iran (also referred to in the file as the Anglo-Persian Consular Convention). The papers, chiefly exchanged between HM Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Tehran, Horace James Seymour, the Foreign Office, and the India Office, cover: outstanding points remaining to be agreed prior to the signing of any treaty, including the withdrawal of Iran’s claims to Bahrain, Tamb [Greater Tunb] and Abu Musa, and the demarcation of the Perso-Baluch frontier, between Iran and British Baluchistan, now part of Pakistan; the British Government and Government of India’s reluctance to commit to a demarcation of the Perso-Baluch frontier, in part because of the financial implications of such a project; the despatch of an Iranian technical commission between February and May 1938 to recommence a survey of the Perso-Baluch frontier that was originally started in 1932; arrangements for the Government of India’s cooperation with the Iranian survey party, with the support of the Political Agent at Chagai; reports on the Iranian survey party’s activity and progress; a confidential entitled ‘Status of the Islands of Tamb, Little Tamb, Abu Musa and Sirri’ written by John Gilbert Laithwaite of the India Office, and dated 24 August 1928 (ff 45-48); the return of the Iranian survey party to the frontier in late 1938.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 137; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Copy of instructions, dated 15 February 1812, from HM Ambassador Extraordinary to Persia [Iran], Sir Gore Ouseley, in Tehran, to his Private Secretary, Sir William Ouseley, for his mission to Mazenderan [Mazandaran]. The instructions include to survey the coastal areas of the Caspian Sea for a site suitable for building a dock; to survey the potential for the extraction of natural resources necessary for shipbuilding in the surrounding area; and to keep a journal of the journey.The instructions were enclosed in Sir Gore Ouseley’s letter to HM Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of 15 March 1812 (see IOR/L/PS/9/68/125), and were received on the 8 August 1812.Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)
Abstract: Copy of a letter from the Chief Secretary to the Supreme Government of India, George Swinton, in Fort William, to HM Chargé d’Affaires to Persia [Iran], Henry Willock, of 6 May 1825. In the letter, Swinton indicates the approval of the Governor-General of India, Lord Amherst, for Willock’s recommendation, as detailed in his dispatch of 23 December 1824 (see IOR/L/PS/9/70/7), for the undertaking of a discreet mission to survey the lands between the Caspian Sea and the Indus River, and indicates Lord Amherst’s approval of the appointment of John McNeill for the purpose.This document was originally enclosed in Willock’s letter to the Secret Committee of the East India Company of 17 February 1826 (IOR/L/PS/9/70/71).Physical description: 1 item (2 folios)