IOR/L/PS/10/1274/1

This part contains papers relating to the question of whether the British Political Residency at Bushire should be removed from Persian [Iranian] territory, and whether the functions of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf should be separated from those of the Consul-General at Bushire. These questions were under discussion by the Persian Gulf Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence.

This part includes papers concerning the following issues: the view of the former Political Resident in the Persian Gulf Sir Frederick William Johnston, and HM Minister at Tehran, that conditions at Bushire were unsatisfactory and that the Persian Government would create difficulties for the Resident if the Residency remained at Bushire; the possibility of the removal of the Residency serving as a useful bargaining counter for the British Government in the treaty negotiations which were taking place with the Persian Government; the possibility of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf being transferred to Basra, Karachi, Bahrein [Bahrain] or Koweit [Kuwait]; and objections of the Government of India to the removal of the Residency from Bushire. The papers include correspondence, India Office Political Department minute papers, internal India Office correspondence, and the following documents:

• A memorandum by the Secretary of State for India entitled ‘Question of separation of functions of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and those of the Consul-General, Bushire, and of the removal of the Residency from Persian soil’, dated 7 December 1928
• Draft minutes of the meeting on 15 May 1929 of the Sub-Committee on Political Control of the Persian Gulf Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence
• Draft minutes of the meeting of Persian Gulf Sub-Committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence of 18 March 1929.

The main correspondents are as follows: the India Office; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; HM Minister, Tehran; the Colonial Office; and the Foreign Office.