فصلنامه تاریخ روابط خارجی
پیاپی 74 (بهار 1397)

The establishment of Cossack brigades in Iran in 1879 A.D during the reign of Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar marked the beginning of military relations between Iran and Russia. Upon request by Nasir Al-Din Shah from the Tsarist Russia during his second official trip to Europe the Cossack brigades was established under Russian officers’ command and soon turned into a military division. Military relations between Iran and Russia have gone through the following stages: 1-The historical stage: from the establishment of Cossack brigades in 1258 A.H to the coup stages by Cossack Division in 1299 S.H. 2- The misunderstanding stage: from the 1299 coup by Reza Khan until the Red Army’s occupation of Iran in 1320 S.H. 3- The confrontation and cooperation stage: from 1320 S.H occupation to détente in 1350 S.H. 4- The gendarme stage: from Bahman 1350 S.H to Bahman 1357 S.H (February 1972-1979), the beginning of Iran’s military purchases from the Soviet Union.

Safavid Iran’s relations with the Mughal Empire constitute one of the most volatile epochs in Iran-India foreign relations. An important element bearing upon the calibration of Iran’s and India’s foreign relations was their common enemy, i.e. Sheibani Uzbeks which were deemed as a common threat on the borders of Iran and India. On the other hand, Ottomans extensive activities on Iran’s western borders drove the Safavid Empire to seek amicable relations with the Mughal Empire in order to maintain peace to the east. In addition to political drivers of relations, historical relations between Iran and India and ample cultural commonalities wove Safavid kings and Mughal rulers ever closer. Like other bilateral ties, Safavid-Mughal relations had its share of tension; local Shiite rulers in Dakan were always supported by the Safavid Empire and Mughal rulers were opposed to the expansion of relations between Indian local dynasties and Iran. Although the Safavid attached great importance to local rulers in Dakan, the most important factor that marred Safavid-Mughal relations was Qandehar which led to several military encounters. The current research draws upon historical method to identify and explain the main drivers of Safavid-Mughal relations.

Simultaneous with the Qajar rule in Iran and the expansion of Iran’s foreign relations with the wider world, their acquaintance with new civilizations and cultures and the opportunity for Iranian travelers to familiarize with modernity a new discourse emerged imbued with modern intellectual and political notions, which contributed to the transfer of knowledge in written or oral form and materialized a picture of modern civilization for Iranians. Travelogues pertaining to this era herald the emergence of modern Iranian reason, i.e. raw and descriptive perception and observations of the modern societies of that era and created a modern narrative for Qajar kings. To the authors of this article the study of these travelogues and implementation of their recommendations could have contributed to the modernization and prosperity of Iran. In the current article descriptive-analytical method and library resources have been employed to render analyses of early Qajar travelogues (from the establishment of the Qajar rule to early Nasir era) in order to better understand Iranians’ mindset of the new civilizations and Western prosperity, and also to assess the level of influence these writing wielded upon Nasir Al-Din Shah Qajar.

Italy was among the countries that contributed to the modernizations efforts in Iran under the First Pahlavi. In the course of the Second World War when Iran was occupied by the Allied forces and Italy had sided with the Axis powers, Iran-Italy relations was severed until after the War when in 1945 Iranian and Italian embassies were re-opened and ties were resumed and up until the end of the Second Pahlavi numerous economic and cultural agreements were signed between the two countries. The current article assesses the commencement of Iran-Italy relations after WWII and employs descriptive-analytical method to study the circumstances under which political, cultural and economic relations with Italy was reviewed in the 16th to 19th national Iranian Parliaments (Majlis). The findings suggest that under the 16th Parliament (Majlis), which was simultaneous with a critical juncture in Iranian history, i.e., the resistance against the Great Britain and the nationalization of oil, relations with Italy was given a special status and the first agreements, deliberations and negotiation for furthering ties with Italy was well underway. Thus, economic and cultural ties were further developed and the most important oil partnership contract with the Italian company Agip Mineraria was signed under the 19th Majlis; Iran’s share in this partnership was 75 percent. Unlike the consortium agreement which offered a fifty-fifty partnership, this agreement with Agip, as compared with other contemporary agreements, served Iran’s interests much better.

The establishment of the modern state and emergence of new borders necessitated the regulation of border passage under certain laws as a means to keeping the security of borders and maintaining official political relations. As for Iran, the formation of new geopolitical borders, expansion of foreign relations and familiarization of intellectuals and political elite with modernizations, threw the revival of national and Iranian identity into sharp relief. In this regard, to consolidate national identity and securing the new geopolitical borders (within the concept of territory) statesmen embarked on regulating the borders through the issuance of transit papers. Although these transit papers (passports) was nothing new to border officials, under Nasir Al-Din Shah and Amir Kabir in 1851 the law of transit passage was for the first time promulgated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and, consequently, the Passport Department was established. Thus, Nasir Al-Din Shah’s and Amir Kabir’s era could be considered as a turning point regarding the issuance of official passports. The study of the process of issuing passports in Qajar era until the end of this period is the main subject of this article and the objective is to delve into the history of early passports until the end of Qajar era using a descriptive method.

In the Nasir Al-Din Shah era the Iranian government took an assertive role in relation to Bahrain issue and openly corresponded with the belligerent states and political campaigns while in secret other options and strategies were being mulled. This research is predicated upon a manuscript pertaining to 1852 the text of which is annexed to the article. The findings of this research suggest that some Nasiri agents had devised strategic and logistics plans to counter the crisis in Bahrain and other coterminous territories under Iran’s influence in the Persian Gulf. One of these strategies was the establishment of a powerful naval fleet and direct maritime encounter. However, the findings suggest that the dual policy pursued by Nasir Al-D in Shah on the one hand, and the dysfunctional bureaucracy, as a result of the demise of Amir Kabir on the other hand, and more importantly Iran’s military engagements on its eastern borders (modern day Afghanistan) drove the strategies proposed in the said text towards failure.