Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Arabian Department and Middle...

FCO 8

1966-1997

This series contains records of the Arabian Department, of the Foreign Office to October 1968, and thereafter of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, dealing with UK relations with Aden and the Yemen, Bahrain, Muscat and Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the Trucial States of the Persian Gulf, later the United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Ras al Khaimah, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Umm al Qawain and Ajman).

From April 1972, the records in the NB series are those of the Middle East Department, dealing with UK relations with the states previously the responsibility of the Arabian Department and, additionally, with the Central Treaty Organisation, Iran and Iraq.

Arrangement is by former file reference within annual file cycles.

Earlier files on Iran, Iraq and CENTO are in FCO 17

B and NB file series

Public Record(s)

Arabic and English

• Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Arabian Department, 1968-1972
• Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Middle East Department, 1972-1972
• Foreign Office, Arabian Department, 1959-1968

10747 file(s)

Open unless otherwise stated

From 1998 Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Topics

International

Middle East

Series is accruing

The Arabian Department of the Foreign Office continued with unaltered functions under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In 1971, special UK treaty relationship with the various Arab Protected States of the Persian Gulf, which had included provisions for a special resident political adviser to assist the rulers in administering their states, came to an end, and UK relations with these states became more conventional in nature. The Arabian Department was abolished, and responsibility for relations with Arabia passed to the Middle East Department in April 1972, which was additionally responsible for relations with Iran, Iraq and the Central Treaty Organisation.