791.003/66: Telegram
The Minister in Persia (Philip) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 18—11:40 a.m.]
7. Department’s 75, December 29, 5 p.m. The British Minister here states that he wrote, in December 1927, to the Persian Prime Minister and expressed the British Government’s willingness for negotiations to replace the existing commercial agreements between Great Britain and Persia,5 to provide a new tariff schedule which will take into consideration the Perso-Soviet one, and to recognize Persia’s suppression of the capitulations on May 10, 1928, in a new treaty.
The British Minister subsequently received verbal assurances from the Shah and others that prompt settlement will be made of outstanding British claims and questions. The British Minister states his Government is ready to accept the abrogation of the capitulations as a necessity under existing circumstances and without regard to the probable imperfection of Persian judiciary reforms. As to the Persian Government’s determination not to use the “most-favored-nation” phrase in treaties when treating tariff questions, the British Minister believes all the powers which make new treaties will equally benefit in provisions to be granted any one of them.
The only powers now actively interested here which have not expressed readiness to negotiate are the United States, Belgium, and Italy. In our case, however, I do not consider that delay is at present prejudicial.
- Commercial convention signed February 9, 1903, British and Foreign State Papers, vol. xcvi, p. 51; and tariff agreement signed March 21, 1920 (but not ratified by Persian Medjliss), League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. iv, p. 47.↩