Diplomacy on the brink of crisis Embassy of Mirza Mohammad Sadeq Vaqayenegar in Tbilisi

With the end of the first war between Iran and Russia (1228-1219 AH/1819-1804 AD), which led to the Golestan Treaty and many parts of the Caucasus were handed over to the tsarist government, Iranian statesmen expected to be able to negotiate through diplomacy and a direct request from Tsar Alexander I. (1801-1825 AD) to take back some of the lost areas. This request was followed by Abul Hasan Khan Ilchi in the embassy to Petersburg (1814 AD) and according to Alexander I's decision, its follow-up was subject to negotiations with the new Russian ambassador, General Yarmulov in Iran, which in 1817 AD, had a fruitless meeting with Abbas Mirza and Fath Ali Shah Qajar. This embassy not only did not achieve anything for the Iranians in recapturing areas of the Caucasus, but also caused new disputes and misunderstandings, which eventually led to the outbreak of the second war in 1826 AD. The last mission was the embassy of Mirza Mohammad Sadeq Vaqayenegar, the influential figure of the Iranian court, who in 1241 A.H./1826 A.D. with the embassy in Tbilisi, became the agent to settle border disputes with General Yermelov. One of the most important features of this embassy was the delivery of "negotiation instructions" to Vaqayenegar, which is one of the first experiences of diplomatic etiquette in the history of Iran. Examining the documents and sources shows that Abbas Mirza and the Iranian court had already drawn up various plans to advance the demands step by step and to force the Russians to accept Iran's conditions, and in the end, due to various reasons, it was not possible to fulfill the provisions of the document, the negotiation ended and the second three-year war, which led to the Treaty of Turkmanchai, began.