IOR/L/PS/12/2087

This volume concerns relations between the British Government and the Government of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia).

The volume largely consists of copies of Foreign Office and Colonial Office correspondence. The correspondence near the beginning of the volume discusses Ibn Saud's [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd's] wish to enter into full diplomatic relations with the British Government. The Hejazi Government's proposal in 1929 to establish a legation in London is accompanied by a request for the British Government to raise the status of its Agency and Consulate in Jedda to the same status.

The subsequent correspondence in the volume discusses the following:

• The British Government's consideration (and acceptance) of Ibn Saud's proposal, and the appointment of Sir Andrew Ryan as His Majesty's Minister at the British Legation in Jedda in May 1930.
• Hafiz Wahba's appointment as Hejazi Minister in London in 1930.
• Complaints made by the Hejazi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regarding Sir Andrew Ryan's attitude and conduct since his arrival in Jedda.
• Details of an Hejazi-Nejdi diplomatic mission to Europe (including visits to Italy, France, Britain, and the Netherlands), undertaken in May 1932 and headed by Amir Feisal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd], Hejazi Minister for Foreign Affairs (this part of the volume includes detailed accounts of the mission's meetings with Foreign Office officials during its visit to London).
• Sir Andrew Ryan's account of his meeting with Ibn Saud at Taif in July 1934, and their discussion of the 'blue line' (the frontier which marked the Ottoman Government's renunciation of its claims to Bahrain and Qatar, in the Anglo-Ottoman convention of 1913) and the Kuwait blockade.
• Details of several meetings held at the Foreign Office between Fuad Bey Hamza (Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs for Saudi Arabia), Sir Andrew Ryan and George William Rendel (Head of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department), during September 1934, regarding the 'blue line', the Kuwait blockade, and the future of the Treaty of Jedda (the treaty signed between Britain and Ibn Saud in 1927).
• Requests from the Italian Government for information regarding Fuad Bey Hamza's visit to London.

The volume features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Agent and Consul at Jedda, a position that was raised to His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires to Jedda in late 1929 (Hugh Stonehewer Bird, William Linskill Bond, Cecil Gervase Hope Gill, and Albert Spencer Calvert successively); His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan); His Majesty's Ambassador in Rome (Ronald William Graham); Ibn Saud; Amir Faisal; officials of the Hejazi/Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs; officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, and the India Office.

In addition to correspondence, the volume contains a copy of the minutes of a meeting of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East. The meeting, which took place in London on 8 November 1934, was primarily concerned with the settlement of the 'blue line' issue, the Saudi-Transjordan frontier, and the Kuwait blockade.

The volume includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence.