The effect of accessing warships on the Open Door policy of Shah Abbas I and his successors with the Europeans (1501 – 1722)

Shah Abbas I and his successors needed a warship in order to exercise complete sovereignty over the water territories and enjoy maritime interests. From the beginning of the Safavid government, the Europeans posed a serious challenge to Iran's domination of the waters with the help of warships. As a result, an important challenge occurred in the relations between the two sides. It has been asked in this research that what has been done to overcome the obstacles in the navy during Shah Abbas I's Open Door policy, and what the results were. A descriptive-analytical approach was used to explain these issues. The findings of the study indicate that Shah Abbas and his successors did not benefit from the open door policy with the Europeans to equip the navy. They were willing to grant political, religious and economic privileges to Britain, the Netherlands and France. However, they failed to achieve their goal and the power of the Safavid state, as one of the most important states in the Islamic world, was not upgraded from a regional power to an international one. The expulsion of the Portuguese from the Persian Gulf during the reign of Shah Abbas has been exaggerated. In fact, Shah Abbas I's action was a temporary relief for this government.