The role of Lord Curzon in preventing Russian influence in the Persian Gulf (Qajar period)

Lord (George Nathaniel) Curzon, a clear-sighted veteran British statesman who had played an important role in Iranian and Persian Gulf affairs in various spheres from the middle of the Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar period until the arrival of the Pahlavi regime, had long been the viceroy of Britain’s Indian Empire and then served as the UK Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He was one of those who had craved to turn the Persian Gulf into a British lake and undertook countless measures to prevent Russia and Iran from dominating the Persian Gulf. He traveled to Iran and the Persian Gulf twice and gathered a lot of information about the southern regions, islands, and seaports of Iran. In 1903, he journeyed to the Persian Gulf with a dozen warships (and navy ships). Many local rulers and sheiks from southern regions of the Persian Gulf entered the ship to declare their submission and allegiance and then acknowledged their protectorate status. But Ala'-al-Dawla, the Persian (Fars) ruler, refused to enter the Curzon’s ship and did not go to visit him under the pretext of Bandar Abbas long distance. Curzon’s various policies in the Gulf, and his main goal was to interfere in Iranian affairs, oversee the Persian Gulf, preserve India, and to keep away his European rivals from establishing a sea base in the Persian Gulf ports and islands. Curzon’s policies in the Persian Gulf and the significant role of Iranian people led to two important consequences: one, since Alad al-Dawlah did not go into his presence, he sought to approach the Russians and to carry out the plan of the breakup of Iran into several dependent regions, which became possible under 1907 convention to contain Russia's dominance in the Persian Gulf. The second result was that he stopped the Russians from entering and advancing towards the Persian Gulf. If the Russians had reached the southern warm waters by conquering and occupying, it would have been very difficult for the Iranians to force them out. The historical research method is based on valid sources.