IOR/R/15/5/177

This file relates to several cases of robbery, which have reportedly been committed by Persian subjects (referred to in the file as pirates) in the Shatt-al-Arab, against Kuwaiti sailing boats, including those belonging to the Kuwait Water Supply Company.

The file includes copies of correspondence from other British officials, including a letter, dated 22 January 1945, from the British Embassy, Baghdad, to the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which a request is made on behalf of the Government of Kuwait for steps to be taken to improve the security of the Shatt-al-Arab (since the attacks have taken place in waters policed by the Iraqi authorities). Elsewhere in the file, the Ruler of Kuwait, Shaikh Ahmad al Jabir As-Subah [Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ], asks the Political Agent at Kuwait to request that the Iraqi Government permit all Kuwaiti sailing craft the right to carry arms for self-defence.

In a copy of a letter, dated 2 February 1945 and addressed to His Majesty's Ambassador, Tehran, the British Consul at Khorramshahr, Andrew Charles Stewart, suggests that the robberies will never be completely suppressed unless the British military authorities permit the Persians the freedom to maintain and operate a small, permanent garrison in the northern half of Abadan.

Other correspondents in the file include the following: the Political Agent, Kuwait; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf; the Mutassarif [Mutasarrif] of Basrah Liwa, Basrah; the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.