The claim of Iran to Bahrain

This file concerns the claims of Iran to the Island of Bahrain from April to May 1970. It contains correspondence relating to:

• The Government of Bahrain's interest in the smooth passage of the report by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Vittorio Winspeare Guicciardi through the Security Council; and a plan for the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa and Hussein Baharna to travel to the UN to lobby friendly governments
• Press reports
• A statement by the UN on the timing of the announcement regarding the Winspeare report
• The possibility of obtaining the agreement of Thant and Dr Ralph Bunche in making Winspeare's report available 48 hours before its circulation to members of the Security Council; and the possibility of telegraphing the report to the Political Agency and the Bahrain Government
• The views of Foreign Secretary Michael Stewart on the previously agreed order of procedure and the concentration of Bahrain's lobbying efforts on Arab capitals, particularly Cairo
• A request for information about the findings of the Winspeare report from the Iranian Minister of Court Asadollah Alam to Ambassador D A H Wright and the possibility of a confidential preview or oral summary
• The decision to provide copies of the report to the UK, Iran and Bahrain three or four days in advance of its circulation to the Security Council
• The successful conclusion of Winspeare's mission in Bahrain and his departure for Geneva; and his statements to Ettelaat about the Soviet letter to Thant and success of the exercise
• A conversation between Ambassador to Jeddah W Morris and Sheikh Omar Saqqaf
• A statement by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, printed in Al Jumhuriyya [Iraq], 18 April 1970
• A conversation between Sir E Melville and Winspeare on the line and contents of the report
• A conversation between Lord Caradon [H M Foot] and Bunche about the Winspeare report
• The rejection by the Iranian Majles of the censure motion tabled by the Hezb-e Pan Iranist
• The plans for the Prime Minister of Bahrain Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad to visit the Saudi King Faisal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud
• The publication of a pamphlet in Iran titled 'A Proof of Iranian Liberalism' by the Public Relations Department of the General Staff following instructions from General Fereydoun Djam
• A request by Admiral Farajollah Rasai for the flagship of the Imperial Iranian Navy the Artemiz to visit the naval facilities at Bahrain and the possibility of a similar visit to Karachi
• The conversation of Ambassador E F Henderson with the Ruler of Qatar Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al Thani and Sheikh Nasir Bin Khalid Al Thani on the Winspeare mission and its ramifications for international perceptions of the Gulf and the Union of Arab Emirates
• The agreement of Stewart to an Iranian proposal for separate letters to the President of the Security Council and sponsorship of a Security Council resolution by the UK
• A conversation between Lord Caradon and the Iranian Permanent Representative to the UN Dr Mehdi Vakil about the sponsorship of the resolution by a neutral country such as Finland
• The delivery of the Iranian and British letters to the President of the Security Council and the agreement of the French mission to the UN to circulate the draft resolution at the meeting
• The recommendations of A J D Stirling on future relations between Iran and Bahrain
• A copy of Winspeare's report on Bahrain with a covering letter by the Secretary-General
• Dr Vakil's speech at the Security Council
• A conversation between Foreign Secretary Stewart and the Iranian Ambassador to London Amir Khosrow Afshar about the Tunb Islands, Bahrain and an invitation to the Queen.