IOR/L/PS/12/2117

This file concerns relations between the Government of the Hejaz and Nejd (Saudi Arabia from September 1932 onwards) and the Soviet Union. It largely consists of copies of correspondence received by the Foreign Office from His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard) regarding Saudi-Soviet relations and the activities of Soviet representatives in Saudi Arabia. Other prominent correspondents include His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires to Jedda (Cecil Gervase Hope Gill), His Majesty's Ambassador in Moscow (Esmond Ovey), and officials of the Foreign Office, India Office, and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.

Matters discussed in the correspondence include:

• The visit of the Hejazi delegation, headed by Emir Feisal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd], Foreign Minister for the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd, to Moscow, and later, via Turkey, to Tiflis [Tbilisi] and Baku, in May-June 1932.
• Soviet trade interests in the Hejaz.
• Concerns expressed by Sir Andrew Ryan in July 1932 that the Soviet representative in Jedda could seek to consolidate Soviet relations with Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and encourage the latter to take a strong line regarding Transjordan.
• Unconfirmed reports of a Saudi-Soviet trade agreement in early 1933.
• Notes on the character and previous career in Jedda of the newly appointed (as of January 1936) Soviet minister at Jedda, Kerim Khakimov.
• News in May 1938 that the Government of the Soviet Union has decided to close its legations in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, reportedly as a gesture of disapproval of the Anglo-Italian Treaty [Anglo-Italian Agreement], but considered by the Foreign Office to be part of a general policy of reducing the number of its foreign contacts.

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 2).