IOR/L/PS/12/3476

Correspondence exchanged between the British Legation in Tehran, including HM’s Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, and the Foreign Office, including the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, John Allsebrook Simon. The correspondence concerns questions over the extent of the concession area of (and jurisdiction within) the telegraph station at Jask (also spelt Jashk). These questions arose from the withdrawal of the Indo-European Telegraph Department (IETD) from Persia [Iran] in 1932, and the takeover of its facilities by Imperial & International Communications Limited. The file’s correspondence covers the Persian authorities’ understanding that the original concession was no longer valid, their dismantling of the boundary fence around the telegraph station, and the construction of buildings within the original concession area.

The file contains copies of correspondence dated 1887, including reports from Colonel Robert Murdoch Smith, Director in Chief of the IETD Persian section (ff 89-108), and copies of various agreements ranging in date from 1861 to 1932, relating to the operation and ownership of the telegraph line in Persia (ff 65-88).

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.