§ Mr. O'GRADYasked whether His Majesty's Government is still represented by a Consul at Tabriz, in Persia; has he information to the effect that on 27th July last the Russian Consul-General at Tabriz sent 300 Russian soldiers, fully armed, to the palace of the governor, and liberated by force a Persian subject, Rashid-ul-Mulk, formerly governor of Ardebil, who was imprisoned on a charge of high treason against the Persian Government; and, if so, does this constitute a violation of the sovereignty of Persia, which was safeguarded by the Anglo-Russian Convention?
§ Sir E. GREYThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I understand that the Russian Consul-General intervened in favour of Rashid-ul-Mulk, who is a member of a Russian Order, in the belief that he was to be summarily hanged without a fair trial. We ourselves intervened on behalf of the Nasr-ul-Mulk when his life was in danger in December, 1907, and I do not regard the matter as one to be brought up under the Anglo-Russian Agreement.