IOR/L/PS/12/2868

Correspondence regarding the ownership and management of the Iraqi Railways. The file opens with a small amount of correspondence regarding the decision to dispense with the services of Edward Ralph Perry, the Agent of the Iraqi Railways in Bombay, and also to appoint Mr A Rawlinson to the position of Iraqi Railways Agent to England.

The majority of the file consists of correspondence between the Foreign Office, HM Ambassador to Iraq, and the Government of Iraq, concerning the sale of the Iraqi Railways to the Government of Iraq. The correspondence discusses: the economic viability and strategic value of the railway; the need to ensure its effective future running; the retention of key posts for British personnel under new arrangements; and the establishment of a joint Anglo-Iraqi management board. A draft agreement written by HMG can be found at folios 76-86, with extensive comments by George William Rendel of the Foreign Office, at folios 61-75. A copy of the final agreement, plus notes exchanged between HM Ambassador to Iraq (Arthur Clerk Kerr) and the Iraqi PM (Nuri Said Pasha) can be found at folios 15-26.

The file also contains material regarding a proposal by the British Oil Development Company to construct a line from their oil fields at Qasab to the existing rail system at Tel Kotchek [Al Ya'rubīyah], and also a proposed contact for the southern line from Qaiyara [Al Qayyārah] to Baiji.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is found at the end of the correspondence (folio 2).