Page 137 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf) 1907-1953

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arms into Ottoman dominions without speoiul
licence was prohibited.
Sir N. O’Conor to Sir N. O'Conor, who was consulted on the
Lord Lansdowne,
Novombor 16, matter, drew attention to the notifications that
1903. had already been made bj the Turkish Govern­
ment, and suggested that they might sufficiently
serve tlio purpose the Government of India
had in view. As regards the right of search,
Sir N. O’Conor wrote :—" In conversation with
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I gathered that
the Turkish Government would be willing
enough to co operate in our endeavours to
suppress the traffic iu arms, but that the right
to search Turkish vessels could only be conceded
in exchange for a reciprocal privilege; an arrange­
ment which, however one-sided it might prove in
practice, would, in principle, be open to obvious
objections.”
G. Persia.—In 1881 the Persian Government
issued a Decree that “ no arms or munitions
of war, such as guns, caps, gunpowder, &c.,
should enter Persian territory without the per­
mission of the Great Government." In au-
Mr. Thomson to nouncing the issuo of this Decree to the British
Lord Granvillo,
July 12, 1881. Legation, the Persian Miuister for Foreign Affairs
wrote as follows on the 3rd July, 1881: “ Since
the right of purchasing arms and introducing
the samo into Persia belongs to the Persian
Government, who exercise it through their own
specially appointed officials, and if this absolute
right were not exclusively confined to the Govern­
ment, and everybody who thought tit to do so
were allowed to purchase such articles and intro­
duce them into the country, this great govern­
mental privilege would become obsolete, and
considerable ovils would result to the State.
Therefore llis Majesty the Shah has issued
orders that no one shall import arms of any
description whatsoever into this country from
abroad, and any person in whose possession arms
of foroign make are found will bo liable to have
them confiscated by Government”
As regards the measures taken by the Persian
authorities to enforce the Decree of 1881, it may
Sir M. Durand to be noted that in May 1881 both the Shah himself
Lord Salisbury,
June 10, 1898. and the Amin-es-Sultau telegraphed to the
Governor of Bushiro complaining of the sale in
Tehran of arms by British and Parsee merchants,
and giving strict ordors that the prohibition on
imports should be maintained, and all arms
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