IOR/L/PS/12/3815

The file concerns regulations issued by the Government of Iran (generally referred to in the papers as Persia) governing the passage of foreign warships through Iranian territorial waters, and visits by foreign warships to Iranian ports.

The papers include reports from HM Minister, Tehran; the Iranian desire for control over their territorial waters; official discussion of the effect on Royal Navy ships; correspondence from the Admiralty; the question of the scale of gun salutes prescribed by Iranian regulations for foreign warships visiting Iranian ports; the question of the method of notification to be given by Royal Navy ships of their arrival in Iranian ports; the right of 'innocent passage' for warships through territorial waters (paper by the Foreign Office, folios 139-143); British agreement to allow Iranian warships to visit Bombay for repairs, and the desire of the British for a reciprocal attitude from Iran on the question of notification (1936); agreement reached on the arrangements (folio 27); and papers dated 1946 concerning protests in the Iranian press over the alleged presence of two Royal Navy warships in Iranian territorial waters.

The papers include some correspondence from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

There are no papers in the file dated 1937-45.

The French content of the file consists of a single quoted passage on folio 142.

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.