IOR/L/PS/12/3489

Correspondence concerning diplomatic relations between the British and Persian Governments over the concession and operations of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company Limited (from 1935, Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Limited), referred to as APOC hereafter. The file includes: correspondence dated 1933 to 1935 from the British Consul at Kermanshah, reporting progress of the construction of APOC’s oil refining facilities at Kermanshah; correspondence dated 1939 and 1940 reporting on the Shah of Persia [Reza Shah Pahlavi] and his Government’s efforts to renegotiate the terms of the APOC concession, in light of the heightened strategic importance of APOC’s oil production to Britain during wartime conditions; correspondence dated 1941 reporting on wartime developments, the likelihood of German occupation of Iran, and the threat to APOC oil production in the country. The file also includes: two bound and printed copies of the APOC Concession 1933-1993, printed in French and English, and accompanied by a fold-out map of the concession area (ff 127-149, ff 150-172); an illustrated brochure, published by APOC in 1924 to commemorate the company’s stand at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924 (ff 109-126).

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.