IOR/L/PS/12/4486

• A query (ff 207-208) from the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs as to the extent of aid that they could expect from Britain in event of the outbreak of war with ‘a foreign power’ in the context of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of Alliance, Article 4
• The 1938 crisis in central Europe and implications for Iraq
• The proposed reduction of the RAF garrison in Iraq
• The declaration of war by Iraq on Germany and Italy
• British considerations of military logistics involved in supplying armaments to the Government of Iraq
• Italian propaganda efforts, the rise in public opinion of anti-British views, and the killing of the British Consul at Mosul
• The monitoring of Syrian and Palestinian refugees and teachers for anti-British sentiments.

Items of note include a copy of a telegram dated 7 September 1939, from Amir Abdul Illah [Amīr ‘Abdullāh], Regent of Iraq, to HM King George, pledging his co-operation (f 113), and the reply (f 114).

The principal correspondents are the Under-Secretary of State, India Office; the British Ambassador, Iraq; and the Foreign Office.