The claim of Iran to Bahrain

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

• The concerns of Lord Caradon [H M Foot] about the reaction of UN Secretary-General U Thant and Dr Ralph Bunche to an article about Bahrain printed in the Daily Telegraph. The quality of the information suggests that it came from an official source based in London
• A letter from A D Parsons reflecting preliminary discussions with Dr Ralph Bunche and discussing possible procedures to be followed in preparation for the Security Council debate endorsing Vittorio Winspeare Guicciardi's report to the Secretary General
• The briefing by Mahmoud Alawi of the Ruler of Qatar Sheikh Ahmad Bin Ali Al Thani and the Deputy Ruler Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al Thani on the UN exercise in Bahrain
• The press coverage in Kuwait of Secretary General Thant's announcement of Winspeare's mission, the statement of the President of the Bahraini Council of State and the Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's intentions towards Bahrain and the Union of Arab Emirates
• The Shah of Iran's satisfaction with the announcement of the Winspeare mission in Bahrain, conveyed in a conversation with HM Ambassador to Tehran Sir D A H Wright and President Nikolai Podgorny's expression of support to Prime Minister Amir Abbas Hoveyda
• The Iranian press coverage of the Government's decision on the exercise in Bahrain, including coverage by Farman, Kayhan, and the Hezb-e Pan Iranist organ Khak o Khoon
• The interest of King Hussein Bin Talal in better relations between Iran and the Gulf States
• The arrival of Winspeare in Bahrain and his reception by the Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, officials, reporters and photographers, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and A J D Stirling; and his call on the Ruler Sheikh Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa
• A conversation between the Iranian Ambassador to the UK Amir Khosrow Afshar and P T Hayman and the former's concern about a report in the Daily Telegraph that describes Bahraini police taking the names of those representatives who went to meet with Winspeare
• The condemnation of the Winspeare mission by the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) and People's Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (PFLOAG)
• The response of Thant to the Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union Yakov Malik; and a copy of Malik's earlier note to the President of the UN Security Council, 2 April 1970
• The press coverage of the Winspeare mission in Baghdad Observer and Al Ahram (Egypt)
• 'A Note by the Secretary General' distributed to the Security Council, 28 March 1970
• The return of Sheikh Mohammad Bin Mubarak Al Khalifa from his visit to President Gamal Abdel Nasser and the latter's assurances of the United Arab Republic's support; Sheikh Mohammad's discussions with the Foreign Minister of Iraq Abdul Karim Al Sheikhly; Dr Hussein Baharna's briefing of Arab ambassadors in Kuwait on the Winspeare mission; and Sayyed Mahmoud Al Alawi's meetings with the Rulers of Qatar, Dubai and Sharjah
• The speeches of the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ardeshir Zahedi and leader of the Pan-Iranist Party Mohsen Pezeshkpour at the Parliament, 29 March 1970; and the commentary by Mehdi Qasemi on the 'Bahrain Question', Tehran, 3 April 1970
• A statement issued by the Bahraini students in India, and dated from New Delhi, 1 April 1970
• A conversation between Wright and the Iranian Minister of Court Amir Asadollah Alam
• A statement by the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Omar Saqqaf on Saudi-Iranian relations.