History of Anglo.E2.80.93Iranian relations Iran–United Kingdom relations

1 history of anglo–iranian relations

1.1 safavid era
1.2 qajar era
1.3 pahlavi era
1.4 islamic republic

history of anglo–iranian relations
safavid era

in year 1553, king edward vi of england hired wealthy merchant , explorer, sebastian cabot develop semi-profitable trading company. given 2 ships sailed towards port city of arkhangelsk. captain of 1 of ships cpt. richard chancellor, reached northern city. there, sebastian cabot , envoy traveled towards russian city of moscow business proposition grand duke ivan iv terrible. when accepted, moscow trading company came existence.

south of moscow trading company headquarters wealthy realm of safavid empire. company started sending envoys during reign of shah tahmasp during first years in business. anthony jenkinson 1 of first leaders of these envoys. in total, there 6 visits , last 1 in june 1579 during reign of shah mohammad khodabandeh led arthur edwards. @ time company s envoys reached royal court in qazvin, shah busy protecting borders osmani arch rivals (ottoman) attacks. in order attain wealth of country, company penetrated bazaars , dispatched more envoys.

in 1597, abbas of safavid sought establish alliance against arch rival, ottomans, received robert shirley, anthony shirley, , group of 26 english envoys in qazvin. english delegation, aware of ottoman threat, more glad have persia ally against ottoman threat. shah abbas warmly received delegation , took them guests him isfahan, new capital.

soon, shirley brothers appointed shah organize , modernize royal cavalry , train army (most notably elite ghulam slave soldiers, consisting of en masse deported , imported circassians, georgians, , armenians , other caucasians shahs). effects of these modernizations proved highly successful, on safavids proved equal force against arch rival, crushing them in first war come (ottoman-safavid war (1603-1618)) , other safavid wars come. many more events followed, including debut of british east india company persia, , establishment of trade routes silk though jask in strait of hormuz in 1616. here likes of sir john malcolm later gained influence qajarid throne.

qajar era

nasereddin shah of persia received queen victoria @ windsor castle in july 1859.

anglo-persian relations picked momentum weakened safavid empire, after short-lived revival genius nader shah, gave way qajarid dynasty, absorbed domestic turmoil , rivalry, while competing colonial powers rapidly sought stable foothold in region. while portuguese, british, , dutch, competed south , southeast of persia in persian gulf, imperial russia largely left unchallenged in north plunged southward establish dominance in persia s northern territories.

plagued internal politics , incompetence, qajarid government found fast after ascendancy incapable of rising numerous complex foreign political challenges @ doorsteps of persia.

caption 1911 english satirical magazine reads: if hadn t thorough understanding, (british lion) might tempted ask (russian bear) doing there our little playfellow (persian cat).

during monarchy of fath ali shah, sir john malcolm, sir harford jones-brydges, 1st baronet, allen lindsay, henry pottinger, charles christie, sir henry rawlinson, harold nicolson, sir anthony eden, sir john mcneill, edmund ironside, , james morier of british elite closely involved persian politics. allen lindsay appointed general in abbas mirza s army.

a weakened , bankrupted royal court under fath ali shah forced sign treaty of gulistan in 1813, followed treaty of turkmenchay after efforts abbas mirza failed secure persia s northern front against imperial russia. treaties prepared sir gore ouseley aid of british foreign office in london. sir gore ouseley younger brother of british orientalist william ouseley, served secretary british ambassador in persia.

in fact, iran s current southern , eastern boundaries determined none other british during anglo-persian war (1856 1857). after repelling nasereddin shah s attack in herat in 1857, british government assigned frederic john goldsmid of indo-european telegraph department determine borders between persia , india during 1860s.

in 1872, shah signed agreement baron julius de reuter, george nathaniel curzon (who 1 of greatest statesmen of day) called complete , extraordinary surrender of entire industrial resources of kingdom foreign hands has ever been dreamed of .

the reuter concession denounced ranks of businessmen, clergy, , nationalists of persia, , concession forced cancellation.

similarly, tobacco fatwa , decreed grand ayatollah mirza hassan shirazi incident raised popular resentment against british presence in persia in lieu of diplomatically decapitated , apathetic qajar throne. concessions such , 70-year contract of persian railways operated british businessmen such baron de reuter became increasingly visible. visibility became particularly pronounced after discovery of oil in masjed soleiman in 1909 , establishment of anglo-iranian oil company , d arcy concession .

by end of 19th century, britain s dominance became pronounced khuzestan, bushehr, , host of other cities in southern persia occupied great britain, , central government in tehran left no power select own ministers without approval of anglo-russian consulates. morgan shuster, example, had resign under tremendous british , russian pressure on royal court. shuster s book strangling of persia recount of details of these events, harsh criticism of britain , imperial russia.

pahlavi era

of public outcry against inability of persian throne maintain political , economic independence great britain , imperial russia in face of events such anglo-russian convention of 1907 , 1919 treaty , 1 result persian constitutional revolution, resulted in fall of qajar dynasty.

the great tremor of persian political landscape occurred when involvement of general edmund ironside led rise of reza shah pahlavi in 1920s. popular view british involved in 1921 coup noted march 1921 american embassy , relayed iran desk @ foreign office british embassy report 1932 concedes british put reza shah on throne .

after establishing of power , strengthening of central government, rezā khan put end autonomous activities of british-backed sheikh khazal in south. london withdrew support of khaz al in favor of rezā shāh. however, rezā shāh removed power during anglo-soviet invasion of iran during world war ii.

a novel chapter in anglo-iranian relations had begun when iran canceled capitulation agreements foreign powers in 1928. iran s success in revoking capitulation treaties, , failure of anglo-iranian agreement of 1919 earlier, led intense diplomatic efforts british government regularize relations between 2 countries on treaty basis. on iranian side negotiations on widest range of issues conducted abdolhossein teymourtash, minister of court 1925 1932, , iran s nominal minister of foreign affairs during period.

the ire of british government raised, however, persian diplomatic claims oil-rich regions of greater , lesser tunbs islands, abu musa , bahrain in persian gulf region. on economic front, on other hand, iran s pressures rescind monopoly rights of british-owned imperial bank of persia issue banknotes in iran, iranian trade monopoly law of 1928, , prohibitions whereby british government , anglo-persian oil company ( apoc ) no longer permitted enter direct agreements client tribes, had been case in past, did little satisfy british expectations. cumulative impact of these demands on british government expressed sir robert clive, britain s minister tehran, in 1931 noted in report foreign office there indications, indeed present policy see how far can push in way of concessions, , feel shall never re-establish our waning prestige or able treat persian government on equal terms, until in position call halt .

despite enormous volume of correspondence , protracted negotiations took place between 2 countries on widest array of issues, on iranian side, teymourtash conducted these negotiations single-handedly “without secretary keep papers in order”, according 1 scholar. resolution of outstanding differences eluded speedy resolution, however, given reality on british side progress proved tedious due need consult many government departments differing interests , jurisdictions.

the intractable challenge, however, proved iran s assiduous efforts revise terms whereby apoc retained near monopoly control on oil industry in iran result of concession granted william knox d arcy in 1901 qajar king of period. persians felt , teymourtash explain british counterparts in 1928, industry had been developed on own soil in had no real share .

complicating matters further, , ensuring such demands in due course set iran on collision course british government reality pursuant 1914 act of british parliament, initiative championed winston churchill in capacity first lord of admiralty, led british government granted majority fifty-three percent ownership of shares of apoc. decision adopted during world war ensure british government gain critical foothold in iranian affairs protect flow of oil iran iran due critical importance operation of royal navy during war effort. 1920s apoc s extensive installations , pipelines in khuzestan , refinery in abadan meant company s operations in iran had led creation of greatest industrial complex in middle east.

the attempt revise terms of oil concession on more favorable basis iran led protracted negotiations took place in tehran, lausanne, london , paris between teymourtash , chairman of apoc, sir john cadman, spanning years 1928 1932. overarching argument revisiting terms of d arcy agreement on iranian side national wealth being squandered concession granted in 1901 previous non-constitutional government forced agree inequitable terms under duress.

however, despite progress, rezā shāh pahlavi assert authority dramatically inserting himself negotiations. monarch attended meeting of council of ministers in november 1932, , after publicly rebuking teymourtash failure secure agreement, dictated letter cabinet canceling d arcy agreement. iranian government notified apoc cease further negotiations , demanded cancellation of d arcy concession. rejecting cancellation, british government espoused claim on behalf of apoc , brought dispute before permanent court of international justice @ hague, asserting regarded entitled take such measures situation may demand company s protection. @ point, hassan taqizadeh, new iranian minister have been entrusted task of assuming responsibility oil dossier, intimate british cancellation meant expedite negotiations , constitute political suicide iran withdraw negotiations.

iranians nationalized oil under leadership of democratically elected prime minister mohammad mosaddegh. caused lot of tension between iran , uk.

according book shah s men, british tried convince harry s. truman join campaign against iran. however, when dwight eisenhower became president british succeeded in convincing u.s. join plot. in order convince eisenhower administration woodhouse shaped appeal around rhetoric of anti-communism. pointed out tudeh party take control of iran. british , cia created plan code-named operation ajax overthrow democratically elected mosaddegh. coup performed central intelligence agency field commander kermit roosevelt, jr. (grandson of theodore roosevelt).

the shah of iran saluting winston churchill on occasion of churchill s 69th birthday @ close of tripartite conference of tehran november 1943. on far left ali soheili, serving second term prime minister of iran.

after coup, scores of iranian political activists national , communist parties jailed or killed. coup added deep mistrust towards british in iran. has since been common in iranian culture mistrust british government; example character of uncle in television show uncle napoleon.

the end of world war ii brought start of american dominance in iran s political arena, , anti-soviet cold war brewing, united states moved convert iran anti-communist bloc, considerably diminishing britain s influence on iran years come. operation ajax , fall of prime minister mosaddegh perhaps last of large british involvements in iranian politics in pahlavi era.

him shah of iran mohammad reza pahlavi paid state visit united kingdom in may 1959. hm queen elizabeth ii of united kingdom paid state visit iran in march 1961.

the british forces began withdraw gulf in 1968. part of policy, in 1971, british government decided not support shah , eventually, patronage of united kingdom ended, , consequently, role filled us.

the islamic republic

on 30 april 1980, iranian embassy in london overtaken six-man terrorist team held building 6 days until hostages rescued raid sas. after revolution of iran in 1979, britain suspended diplomatic relations iran. britain did not have embassy until reopened in 1988.

during iran–iraq war, saddam hussein acquired metal tubes firms in united kingdom, intended project babylon supergun. intercepted customs , excise , none ever reached iraq. suppliers under impression tubes have been used in pipeline project.

a year after re-establishment of british embassy in tehran, ayatollah khomeini issued fatwa ordering muslims across world kill british author salman rushdie. diplomatic ties london broken off resumed @ chargé d affaires level in 1990.

relations normalized in 1998 during president mohammad khatami s reformist administration, , jack straw became first high-ranking british politician visit tehran in 2001 since revolution.

relations suffered setback in 2002 when david reddaway rejected tehran london s ambassador, on charges of being spy, , further deteriorated when iran seized 8 british sailors in arvand river near border iraq. sailors pardoned , attended goodbye ceremony president ahmadinejad shortly after released.

in february 2004 following earthquake in bam prince charles , president mohammad khatami visited city.

on 28 november 2011 iran downgraded relations britain due new sanctions put in place uk. next day band of students , basiji attacked uk embassy compound in tehran, damaging property , driving embassy staff away. on 30 november 2011, in response attack, uk closed embassy in tehran , ordered iranian embassy in london closed.

according 2013 bbc world service poll, 5% of british people view iran s influence positively, 84% expressing negative view. according 2012 pew global attitudes survey, 16% of british people viewed iran favorably, compared 68% viewed unfavorably; 91% of british people oppose iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons , 79% approve of tougher sanctions on iran, while 51% of british people support use of military force prevent iran developing nuclear weapons.

from july 2012 until october 2013, british interests in iran maintained swedish embassy in tehran while iranian interests in united kingdom maintained omani embassy in london.

on july 2013, announced uk consider opening better relations iran step-by-step following election of president hassan rouhani.

on october 8, 2013, britain , iran announced each appoint chargé d affaires work toward resuming full diplomatic relations.

on february 20, 2014 iranian embassy in london restored , 2 countries agreed restart diplomatic relations.

on august 23, 2015 british embassy in tehran officially reopened.