The Impact of Soviet Economic Pressure on Road Construction Policies in Reza Shah's Period: Case Study of Tabriz-Rawanduz Road to Iskenderun

Expanding of the transport routes and having a sea route is the most important comparative advantage for the economic and political stability of a country and reduces dependence on neighboring countries. However, during the Qajar period, little attention was paid to this issue. During Reza Shah's reign, there was an extensive development in the road construction, that some have been referred it as "Knitting Iran together". Now, the main question is what factors influenced the extensive road construction policy of Iran during the Reza Shah period? This paper wants to answer this question based on the theory of dependent development and the model of the central-peripheral world economic system. The premise of this paper is that the growth of Iran's agricultural economy, especially the Northern provinces in the last decades of the Qajar period was influenced by the economic development of the semi-peripheral country of Russia. Research findings Shows that this dependence continued during the reign of Reza Shah and the Russians aware of Iran's economic dependence on this country, used it as leverage to apply their political and economic goals. Thus, an important part of Iran's road-building policy was to reduce Russian trade pressures on the northern provinces. The government expanded its road construction policy to south and the west of the country with the aim of access to the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean ports. Construction of Tabriz-Ruwanduz road to the Mediterranean Sea could end Russia's economic domination of the northern and western provinces of Iran