Control of arms exports to the Persian Gulf

This file contains:

• Copy of a note from Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (17 May 1954) acknowledging a British note of 11 May relating to export of arms to the Gulf, which they have had brought to the attention of the competent authorities (3)
• Correspondence relating to reports that that the State Department have received unverified information that arms have been unloaded in Gwadur [Gwadar]. The State Department have also lost trace of the shipments of pistols and ammunition believed to be destined for Kuwait from Italy. This was mentioned in case HMG wished to draw the attention of the Italian Government to the 'No Objection Certificates' granted for arms to the Gulf States. The British can find no trace of these shipments which they presume were ordered by the Arabian-Persian Gulf Trading Company (4, 8, 10-11)
• Drafts of an aide memoire titled 'Arms for the Persian Gulf Area' and related correspondence. Issued to governments of countries potentially selling arms to the Gulf (including Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland), it details Britain's arms control objectives (which includes preventing arms from reaching the tribes of the hinterland, particularly in Muscat and the Trucial Sheikhdoms and to a lesser extent Kuwait) and methods (which includes the issuance of No Objection Certificates) (5-7, 9, 12)