The Challenge of Britain in Persian Gulf Islands With Focus on Performance of National Consultative Assembly

Iran’s excellent status in the Persian Gulf, owning Hormuz, Qeshm, Larak, Hengam, Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tonbs, Siri and other islands, has always been of interest to the world’s great powers. The islands in fact form an important and strategic defense ring in the country’s south borders. However, due to the neglect of Qajar Kings, who were busy with wars with Russia in the north, the government lost effective supervision over the country’s islands in the Persian Gulf, an incident which encouraged Arab rulers and sheikhs to reach for occupying the islands. Upon the 1820 peace pledge between Britain and Arab sheikhs, Britain in fact became the protectorate of the Arab tribes living in the south of the Persian Gulf and it used the tribes as a tool for pressing Iran over the Islands and securing its power in the Persian Gulf. With the establishment of Pahlavi rule, the government and the National Consultative Assembly started a series of ongoing efforts over the issue of the islands. The present paper aims to answer the question as to whether the Assembly, as the country’s prime legislative institution with great power and authority, was actually successful in opposing Britain’s expansionist policies on the islands. The findings suggest that the despotic regimes of the first and second Pahlavi shahs highly affected the Assembly’s performance over the issue, creating two distinct profiles each with their own ups and downs.