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176 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
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measures of coercion against himself which the conduct of the Sheikh of
Bahrein may have rendered necessary.1
On receiving Clarendon’s Note, the Persian Charge d’Aflaires re­
ported to his Government expressing his complete satisfaction with its
contents. Persia construed Clarendon’s Note, as it will be seen later,
as forming a British recognition of the Persian claim to Bahrain.
Apart from minor protests by Persia on a few occasions during the
beginning of this century, the Anglo-Persian controversy over Bahrain
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remained static after Clarendon’s Note in 1869, for a period of over
fifty years until it was revived again by Persia, in 1927. This time the
■:
Persian claim assumed a considerable measure of seriousness when
Persia protested against Article 6 of the Treaty of Jiddah, dated 20
May 1927, concluded between Britain and the King of Saudi Arabia.
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Article 6 of this Treaty which provoked Persia’s protest reads:
:
His Majesty the King of Hijaz and Nejd and its dependencies undertakes
to maintain friendly and peaceful relations with the territories of Kuwait
and Bahrain . . . who are in special treaty relations with His Britannic
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Majesty’s Government.2
The Persian Note of protest, dated 22 November 1927, was sent
to the British Government and stated:
As Bahrein is incontestably in Persian possession ... the above men­
tioned article, so far as it concerns Bahrein, constitutes an infringement of
the territorial integrity of Persia.
The Note further stated:
The Persian Government, therefore, protests emphatically against the
part of the treaty referred to, and looks to the British Government to take
steps to nullify its effects.3
On Persia’s request this Note of protest was also communicated to all
States Members of the League of Nations on 23 November. The
attention of those States was particularly drawn by Persia to Article
10 of the Covenant of the League which ‘guarantees the territorial
integrity of the States Members of the League’.1
Sir Austen Chamberlain, then British Foreign Secretary, replied to
the Persian protest on 18 January 1928, denying emphatically that
there were ‘any valid grounds upon which the claim of the Persian
Government to the sovereignty over [Bahrain] is or can be based’.5
Not satisfied with the British answer, Persia delivered again, on 2
August 1928, another Note in which her previous contentions were
1 F.O. 248/251. Lord Clarendon to Haji Mohsin Khan, Persian Charg6
d’Affaires, 29 April 1869.
2 Treaty Series, No. 25 (1927), Cmd. 2951.
3 L.N.O./., May 1928, pp. 605-6.
«Ibid. 6 L.N.O.J., May 1923, pp. 6C6-7.