Page 370 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

306 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
incorporate the same principles upon which the Iran-Saudi Arabia
offshore agreement was initialled on 13 December 1965. This latter
agreement, as will be seen below, is based on the acceptance of the
principle of fixing the baseline, from which the median line could be
constructed between the two countries, from the low water, or ‘the
lowest low water’ mark on both sides of the Arabian and Iranian
coasts. One of the major problems facing the British Government in
this matter is the question whether islands could be considered for
the purpose of fixing the baseline. It is understood that the British
Government has consistently taken the view that islands should,
generally, be disregarded for the purpose of measuring the baseline.
Iran, on the other hand, appears to insist on considering certain
islands that are not located at a considerable distance from her main­
land as part of her coastline. For that reason, she has regarded the
large island of Qeshm—Jazireh-e Qeshm—as part of the Iranian
coastline.1 Concerning the Arabian side of the Gulf, the Ruler of
Abu Dhabi is reported to have claimed the island of Bani Yas as part
of the Shaikhdom’s coastline. According to reports, ‘he feels so
strongly about this that he is willing to go to arbitration with the
Persians on this matter’. Furthermore, there is the problem of deter­
mining ownership of the islands of Abu Musa and Tunb, as part of
the awaited settlement of the submarine boundaries in this sector of
the Gulf.2

THE SETTLED BOUNDARY DISPUTES

(a) The Offshore Boundary Agreement between Bahrain and Saudi
Arabia, dated 22 February 1958
This is the first formally concluded agreement concerning the delinea­
tion of offshore boundaries in the Arabian Gulf. The agreement which
was signed personally by the King of Saudi Arabia and the Ruler of
Bahrain on 22 February 1958,3 deals with the definition of the offshore
boundaries between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on the basis of ‘the
middle line’, as drawn with reference to fixed geographical points on
maps. By Article 1, paragraph 16, of the agreement, it is stated that
1 It is learned that the Iranians had expressed the view that the baseline for
measuring the median line in the Gulf should be fixed from the southern edge
of the prominent island of Qeshm. This suggestion seems to favour the famous rule
put forward by S. W. Boggs, the United Stales (Department of State) geographer.
See above, p. 289 and n. 3.
3 MEES, No. 14, 4 February 1966. . . , A ..
s The agreement was written and signed in Riyadh, in two original Arabic copies,
on 4 Sha'ban 1377, corresponding to 22 February 1958. For the original Arabic
text see Umm al-Qura (Saudi Gazette), No. 1708, dated 17 Sha ban 1377,
corresponding to 7 March 1958. The above-mentioned quotations from the agree­
ment are based upon an English translation of the agreement provided by the
British Foreign Office and published in I.C.L.Q., 7 (1958), pp. 519-21.