IOR/R/15/5/170-178

The Kuwait/Iran relations sub-sub-series concerns Kuwait's and Britain's relations with Persia (also referred to as Iran in some of the correspondence).

Three of the files relate to cases of Kuwaiti sailing boats being seized, and in some cases detained, by the Persian authorities. Other matters discussed in the files include the following:

• reports of Persian customs authorities inhibiting (and in some cases preventing altogether) the passage of persons travelling between Persia and Kuwait;
• the full extent of Persia's territorial waters;
• Britain's concerns that pearl fisheries – both within and beyond the territorial waters of the Arab rulers – might be exploited by foreign parties (specifically Persia);
• cases of robberies being committed against Kuwaiti boats by Persian subjects (referred to by the British as pirates);
• requests for British assistance from Shaikh Chassib bin Khaz‘al [Shaikh Chassib bin Khaz‘al Āl Ka‘bī] and Shaikh Abdullah bin Khaz‘al [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Khaz‘al Āl Ka‘bī], sons of the late Arab Shaikh of Mohommerah [Khorramshahr], Shaikh Khaz‘al [Khaz‘al bin Jabir bin Merdaw Āl Ka‘bī].

The Political Agent, Kuwait, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf appear throughout the sub-sub-series. Other correspondents who feature prominently include the following: the British Minister, Tehran (later His Majesty's Ambassador, Tehran); the India Office; the Foreign Office; the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al-Jabir as-Sabah [Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ].