1907 Agreement: Exploitation or Independence

The importance of the land of Iran as an area near open waters of the Indian Ocean and a connecting link between the East and the West has been recorded by the western powers, particularly Russia and Britain. The Russian intentions of encroaching upon the Persian Gulf and India, and British policies in safeguarding their position and bases in India and the PersianGulf were among the major reasons for their influence and involvements in Iranian statesmen’s policy-making during the Qajar period. Their competition in obtaining political and economic concessions would cause tensions in Iran which had turned the country into a semi-colonized nation due to the weakness of Iran’s central government. These tensions, and particularly the presence of new powers in an area that was later called the Middle East, such as Germany prompted Russia and Britain to agree on their common interests in Iran to divide it into two areas under their influence. This alliance, indeed, violated Iran’s government’s as well as nation’s political rights and independence. Despite the two parties’ justification that they would respect Iran’s independence and territorial entity, they encroached upon Iran’s national interests within a framework of their political self-made regulations, without considering Iranian government’s views in a written form.Thus, by referring to the background of the British expansionist policy, this paper surveys the grounds and consequences of 1907 Agreement as well as the reactions of the government, newly established Consultative Assembly, and Iranian nation based on a number of documents obtained from the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.