Motives and goals of establishing British consulate in Mashhad during the Qajar period

During the Qajar period, Britain and Russia established a consulate in Iran based on the Kāmelat al-Wadād (Most-favored-Nations Clause) concession. Consulates were usually set up for commercial purposes, but the reports and activities of such institutions went far beyond business motives and goals. The present study intends to discuss the British Consulate in Mashhad and seeks an answer to the question: What were the motives and goals of the British Consulate in Mashhad? Examining the sources, it was hypothesized that the British consulate in Mashhad was established for commercial and political purposes and to strictly supervise Russian actions in the region, but beyond that it had comprehensive intelligence, security and executive functions in Khorasan province. The research data were provided by library data, from historical sources as well as two categories of Persian and English documents, and have been discussed by the method of causal explanation, in the context of British-Russian competition. The results of the discussion indicate that British agents, in competition with Russia, set up a consulate in Mashhad. Under the guise of establishing a consulate in Mashhad, the British set up an intelligence network to monitor Russia's activities in Central Asia and Iran’s northeastern borders in order to thwart Russian anti-British actions in the area. In addition, by establishing a consulate in Mashhad, while supporting British citizens, they removed the barriers to trade between Iran and Britain in this area.