IOR/L/PS/12/2132

This file concerns Saudi-Yemeni relations, beginning with the final weeks of hostilities between the two countries before going on to cover peace negotiations and the reoccupation of Hodeidah (also transliterated as Hodeida) by the Yemeni authorities, following the gradual withdrawal of Saudi troops.

Related matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:

• The situation at Hodeidah, as reported by the Commanding Officer of HMS Penzance.
• Arrangements for the simultaneous withdrawal of foreign warships from Hodeidah.
• The progress of Saudi-Yemeni treaty negotiations, and the wording of the resulting Treaty of Taif, concluded between Saudi Arabia and Yemen on 20 May 1934, and ratified on 22 June 1934.
• Costs recovered from the Imam of Yemen [Yaḥyā Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn] by the British for the internment of Yemeni soldiers in Aden during the Saudi-Yemeni conflict.
• Details of other costs incurred by the British during the Saudi-Yemeni War, as calculated by the Political Resident at Aden [Bernard Rawdon Reilly], and discussion as to whether any part of these expenses should be borne by Government of India revenues.
• The reported presence of members of the Idrisi [al-Idrīsī] family in Mecca.

In addition to correspondence the file includes the following:

• Extracts from Aden, Bahrain, and Kuwait political intelligence summaries.
• Copies of an English translation of the Treaty of Taif.
• A copy of an English translation of the Treaty between King Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the Idrisi [Sayyid Muḥammad bin ‘Alī al-Idrīsī], signed on 31 August 1920.
• Copies of extracts from reports from the Senior Officer of the Red Sea Sloops, as well as copies of reports from the commanding officers of HMS Penzance and HMS Enterprise respectively.

The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard); His Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires to Jedda (Albert Spencer Calvert); the Secretary of State for the Colonies (Philip Cunliffe-Lister); the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir John Simon); the Senior Officer of the Red Sea Sloops; the Commander of HMS Penzance; His Majesty's Ambassador in Rome (James Eric Drummond); the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Yemen; officials of the Colonial Office, the India Office, the Foreign Office, the Admiralty.

Although the file includes material dating from 1934 to 1938, most of the material dates from 1934. The French material consists of three telegrams addressed to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by Yemen's Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folios 2-3).