The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1948, or Portsmouth Treaty of 1948, was a treaty between

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

signed in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on 15 January 1948. It was a revision of the

Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930 The Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930 was a treaty of alliance between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the British-Mandate-controlled administration of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. The treaty was between the governments ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the British had reoccupied Iraq to reverse a pro-

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

coup that had taken place in

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

. By the Treaty of Portsmouth,

Sayyid Salih Jabr Sayyid Salih Jabr ( ar, سيد صالح جبر; 1896–1957) was an Iraqi statesman who served as the prime minister of Iraq from March 1947 to January 1948. He was the first Shi'ite to become prime minister. In the 1930s and 1940s, Salih attend ...

negotiated British withdrawal from Iraq. However, the agreement consisted of a joint British and Iraqi defence board to oversee Iraq's military planning. Additionally, the British continued to control Iraqi foreign affairs. At the time of signing, Britain's strategic goal was to form an Arab bloc that would be anti-Soviet and pro-British. After it had convinced Syria, Jordan and Egypt to join, Britain conceded

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, that the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

had approved its partition of into Arab and Jewish states, to Iraq. A military plan was agreed upon by which two Iraqi divisions, armed with modern British weapons, would sweep through Syria and Jordan and join the Arab Legion of Jordan to conquer the planned Jewish and Arab states. Iraq would still be tied to the British for military supplies and training until 1973, which could not be accepted by

Arab nationalists Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and ...

in Iraq.Tripp, page 117. As a staunch reaction to the treaty, Iraqis led the

Al-Wathbah uprising The Al-Wathbah uprising ( ar, انتفاضة الوثبة) or simply Al-Wathbah ( ar, الوثبة), which means The Leap in Arabic, was the term that came to be used for the urban unrest in Baghdad in January 1948. The protests were sparked by th ...

against the continued British presence in Iraq.Tripp, page 134 Al-Said repudiated the treaty as a concession offered to the Iraqi and Arab nationalists. The treaty was repudiated after the Free Officers coup in 1958 removed

Faisal II Faisal II ( ar, الملك فيصل الثاني ''el-Melik Faysal es-Sânî'') (2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was killed during the 14 July Revolution. This regici ...

from power, and his pro-Western policies were reversed.

References

Treaties of the Kingdom of Iraq Bilateral treaties of the United Kingdom Treaties concluded in 1948 Iraq–United Kingdom relations 1948 in Iraq 1948 in the United Kingdom 1948 in British law January 1948 events in the United Kingdom {{Iraq-hist-stub