Factors Affecting Weapons Smuggling in the Persian Gulf and the Port of Bushehr During the Years before World War I (1297-1331 AH/ 1880-1913 AD)

The trade of weapons greatly prospered during the years before World War I in the Persian Gulf. The easy access of British opposition forces in India to these weapons was prompted by British authorities’ efforts to ban this trade in the Persian Gulf. In this regard by British referring, the trade of weapons in Iran was banned by the Iranian authorities in 1881/ 1897 AD. Bushehr, a major port in the Persian Gulf and Iran during the Qajar era, was one of the main centers of trade of weapon. The social and tribal conditions of the southern regions of Iran had fueled this trade in Bushehr.The present study is a historical and analytical-explanatory approach based on library sources and unconventional documents with this question that following the prohibition of weapon trade in the Persian Gulf and Iran, what factors led to the continued entrance of weapon into the form of smuggling to Bushehr, as the center of weapon distribution in the southern areas of Iran? Hypothesis: Analyzes and evaluates the profits of the weapon trade and the social conditions and tribal structure of the southern regions that led to the proliferation of weapon entrance to Bushehr through smuggling. Historical findings and evidence indicate that the weapon trade in Bushehr was not disrupted as a trading center and continued in the form of smuggling.