The role of Iran in the Eastward policy of the Russian Empire
* How did the Russian-Western Confrontation in the Middle East start?
* How the Russians Prepared for the Invasion of India
* Spies Under Cover of Ambassadors
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The President of Iran receives
the new Russian Ambassador
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The new Russian ambassador, Alexander Sadovnikov yesterday presented his credential to the President of Iran. Earlier, for three and a half years, he headed the Russian embassy in Uganda, dealing mostly with issues of military deliveries. It was evident from his activities that in the past Sadovnikov had been closely connected with the secret services. He also is one of the Russian President's most trusted confidants - a little-known diplomat whose career growth was boosted by Putin personally. On the background of activization of Putin's policies in the Central Asia and in the Middle East, Sadovnikov was one of most suitable candidates for the post of Ambassador in Tehran. Today Iran takes a special place in the regional policy of the Kremlin playing a significant role in maintaining its interests. During the last two hundred years, it has been one of the key outposts of Russian influence in the Middle East, in Central Asia and in the Caucasus. In the present political situation, the value of this diplomatic mission is growing more and more…
Heritage of the Byzantine Empire
Since the rule of famous Peter the Great at the end of the Seventeenth and beginning of the Eighteenth centuries, Russia has tried to play a role as one of the largest world powers. An important means of strengthening the imperial status of the Russian state has been expansion to the south. The purpose is to attain control over the Caucasus and Central Asia, and also to spread its influence to the Middle East and Southern Asia. Initially, the Russian rulers considered their "Eastward policy" as one of the major ways of confrontation with the West.
The splitting of Christianity between the Roman Catholic and Greek-Orthodox churches, which began in the Ninth Century and ended in Thirteenth, caused fierce rivalry between Byzantium and Rome. The fall of Constantinople in the Fifteenth Century under the onslaught of the Turk, coincided with formation of the Russian state, which declared itself the heir of Byzantium
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| Russia accepts the Orthodox religion from the Byzantian monks, 988 |
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and the keeper of its spiritual heritage. The Russian rulers declared themselves protectors of the Christians of the East. This served as a pretext for the expansion of Russia to the East and South, and also for the strengthening of Russian influence on the Ottoman and Persian Empires. In the Sixteenth Century, Tsar Ivan Grozny conquered extensive territories in the south and in the east, which were populated by Tatars, thus providing a bridgehead for e further expansion to the
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Tsar Ivan Grozny |
Caucasus, to Central Asia and to the Middle East.
One and a half centuries later Peter the Great continued this expansion. He designated the long-term objectives of the Russian "Eastward policy" to attain access to the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. For this purpose, the first military expeditions to Caucasus and to the Central Asia were organized. Continuing Byzantine traditions, the Russian Empire has declared the West, and specifically Britain, as its strategic opponent in the East. In the Nineteenth Century, having conquered the Caucasus and Central Asia, Russia promptly began to increase its influence in Afghanistan, Persia, Turkey, Syria and Palestine. With the replacement of the regime in 1917, nothing changed in this policy. The ideological substantiation of the "Eastward expansion" of Russia was perpetuated. Previously it had presented itself as the patron of religious Orthodoxy, but now its "higher purpose" was to continue the export of global revolution. As a consequence, during the Soviet period many countries of the Arab East fell under Moscow's influence, and in Southern Asia a strategic partnership with India was established. Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was another step toward the achievement of the cherished dream of Peter the Great,
to gain direct access to the coast of the Indian Ocean. As in the days of the monarchy, Soviet Russia continued its strong rivalry with the
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| Peter the Great |
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West for influence in the East. Up to the middle of the Twentieth Century, London was considered by Moscow to be its primary opponent in the region. Then Washington took its place. For a short period of time, during the first years of President Boris Yeltsin's rule, the situation changed slightly. But with the assignment of Evgeny Primakov as head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1996 and, especially with Vladimir Putin's coming to power three years later, Russia returned to its traditional Eastward Policy.
Spies Under Cover of Ambassadors
Persia, which changed its name to Iran in the Twentieth century, always occupied an important place in the Eastward Policy of Russia. The role assigned to this country by the architects of Russian expansion towards the Indian Ocean, was determined by Persia's special geographical position. Due to this, and also to the cultural, economic and political influence it possessed, Persia traditionally held strong positions in the Caucasus and in Central Asia.
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Persian Nader Shah |
Soon after the death of Peter the Great, the Persian Nader Shah expanded his territory considerably, adding part of Northern Caucasus, modern Uzbekistan and almost all of Afghanistan. He also undertook a successful military campaign in India. Naturally, without taking into account the Persian factor, Russia could not expect to achieve a successful continuation of its expansion into the Caucasus, Central Asia, and even more so towards India or the Middle East.
To receive trustworthy information about the situation in Persia, and to find ways of influencing its ruling circles, Russia aspired to develop direct contacts with this country. In the Sixteenth Century the Russian monarchy made its first attempt at expansion to the East. Its envoys appeared in Persia for the first time. Two centuries later, before the Caspian Sea campaign, Peter the Great sent two ambassadorial envoys to the Persian Shah, one after another, headed by a career diplomat and an army officer. Their task was to gather data about the political and military situations in Persia. It was necessary also to establish which routes lead through this country to India. Each of the envoys had also another task. The first was to incite Persians against the Turks, the second, to determine the degree of the Shah's influence on rulers in Central Asia. Both fulfilled successfully their missions. That success, according to Tsar Peter's plan, should have promoted the further expansion of Russia to the East. However, soon after conquering of northwest areas of Persia in1722-23, the Russian Emperor died. The regional policy of his successors was reduced mainly to rivalry with Turkey for control over the Crimea and some areas in the Caucasus.
Until the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, the role of Russia in the so-called Eastern Question had increased to such a level that periodic contacts with Persia no longer met its regional interests. It therefore was decided that continuing diplomatic representation should be maintained in Persia. With its help, the Russian monarch expected to strengthen his influence on the Persian Shah and his coterie, and also to undermine the British positions in Tehran.
Read in the next part:
Why Persians lynched the classical Russian author.
The History of the Russian Agency in Teheran
The Russian Plan for the Conquest of Iran
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