IOR/L/PS/12/2845

This file contains papers regarding relations between the Government of Iraq and the Government of Hejaz and Najd (later Saudi Arabia). It documents negotiations for the conclusion of the 1931 Bon Voisinage Agreement, Arbitration Protocol and Extradition Treaty, and the 1936 Treaty of Friendship (also referred to as the Treaty of Alliance). It includes discussions on: the treatment of tribal and political offenders; proposals for an alliance or federation of Arab states; customs arrangements between Iraq and Saudi Arabia; the first Iraqi diplomatic mission to Najd and the Hejaz in 1932; delimitation of the border; abolition of the neutral zone at Tawal [Tawāl]; and an agreement concerning the rights of the Shammar tribes.

The papers primarily comprise correspondence between the Foreign Office, HM Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, later Stonehewer-Bird), the High Commissioner for Iraq (Francis Henry Humphrys), and the India Office Political Department. The file also contains correspondence between these officials and the Iraqi and Saudi Ministries for Foreign Affairs, as well as translations of notes communicated by the Iraqi Prime Minister (Nuri Pasha) and Ibn Sa'ud ['Abd al-'Azīz bin 'Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa'ūd].

In addition to the correspondence, the following treaty texts and minutes are found within the file:

• Draft texts of the Bon Voisinage Treaty, Arbitration Protocol and Extradition Treaty, signed at Mecca on 7-8 April, ff 269-280.
• Memorandum by HM Embassy at Iraq on the proposed Iraqi-Saudi Treaty of Friendship, ff 171-172.
• English translations of drafts of the proposed treaty, ff 183-186, 153-160.
• English translation of the version of the Treaty of Friendship signed on 2 April 1936, ff 110-139.
• Notes on the Saudi-Iraq Boundary dispute, ff 105-108.
• English translation of the Residence and Passport Agreement between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, signed 1936, ff 88.
• Notes on a meeting between Maurice Peterson and the Iraqi Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1939, ff 73-75.

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