HC Deb 16 July 1912 vol 41 cc189-90
1. Mr. DILLON

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he could state the number and distribution of Russian troops now in Persia?

The SECRETARY of STATE for FOREIGN AFFAIRS (Sir E. Grey)

According to my latest information the total number of Russian troops at present in Persia appears to be some 12,400 men. Of these the greater part are stationed in Azerbaijan and Khorassan.

Mr. MORRELL

Has any part of the expeditionary force which entered Persia last December yet been withdrawn?

Sir E. GREY

I must ask for notice of that.

2. Mr. DILLON

asked whether the Russian Government have demanded from the Government of Persia the addition of 700 men and two Russian officers to the Cossack brigade at Tabriz; and what attitude has the British Government adopted in reference to this demand?

Sir E. GREY

The Russian Legation requested the formation at Tabriz of a detachment of Persian Cossacks 700 strong with two Russian officers and four non-commissioned officers. The Persian Government have agreed to the request, and no action on the part of His Majesty's Government appears to be called for.

Colonel YATE

Will the right hon. Gentlemen now apply to the Persian Government for sanction to raise a similar body of Persian troops at Ispahan under British officers for the protection of the trade routes in Southern Persia?

Sir E. GREY

That is certainly one of the things we should have to consider if order is not restored.

4. Sir G. SCOTT ROBERTSON

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to a railway proposed to be built by Russia from Djalfa to Tabriz, independently of the proposed Trans-Persian Railway; whether the Persian Government has sanctioned the construction of such a line;. and, if so, will he support as of right, under the rescript of Shah Nasr-ud-Din, the proposal of an English company to build a railway in South Persia?

Sir E. GREY

The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. I do not, however, know whether the Persian Government have sanctioned the construction of the line in question. As regards the proposal respecting the construction of a line by a British firm in the South, I am already in communication with His Majesty's Minister at Teheran on the subject. If a concession for a railway is given in the North we should, in accordance with the previous undertaking, claim a corresponding concession in the South, but I must point out that a railway from Julfa to Tabriz is not a very extensive project.

Colonel YATE

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether the proposed railway from Julfa to Tabriz is not at least some 80 miles in length, and whether he will now apply to the Persian Government for early sanction to the construction of the Karum Valley Railway in South Persia by a British company?

Sir E. GREY

The railway would have been about 80 miles in length, and when I said at the end of my answer that that was not a very extensive project, I meant that 80 miles of railway is not a very large affair in Persia. An undertaking that we should have a corresponding concession in the South to any concession in the North, if limited to 80 miles, would not take us very far.