نشریه مطالعات خلیج فارس
پیاپی 2 (تابستان 1393)

The relationships between Iran and its neighboring countries and great trans-regional powers have always been connected to each other. The place and significance of the Middle East, including the region of Persian Gulf, has resulted in a mutual influence between the events of this region and the great international changes in the world, particularly in the 20th century. These issues have subjected Iran’s foreign policy to some unique conditions, which in turn have been followed by certain reactions from the regional and non-regional beneficiaries. In addition, international relationships have always exposed Iran to a large body of challenges and threats and formed the basis of the country’s foreign policy. The present research, while briefly exploring the history of the changes related to Iran’s international policy by paying attention to its specific geographical location in the Persian Gulf, attempts to provide a relatively profound analysis of the events and elements that have formed Iran’s relationship with the countries of the Persian Gulf region, particularly after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. In doing do, the writers have taken into account the divergent and convergent national, regional, and international elements in such relationships.

Springs were the first water sources that the original inhabitants of the Iranian Plateau benefitted from. Since ancient times, these springs have provided human beings with the simplest way of using groundwater and guided them to locate aquifers. The freshwater springs at the bottom of the Persian Gulf originate from the Zagros Mountains and, after flowing at the bed of the Persian Gulf, create some spring with large discharges of water. There is a permanent flow of freshwater under the Persian Gulf flowing from Iran to Saudi Arabia and other countries of this region. In places where the layers containing freshwater are fractured due to tectonic activities, we can observe some of these springs from Qatar in the south of the Persian Gulf to the north of Kazerun in Iran. Therefore, we can claim that these springs are created because of the faulting of the layers containing freshwater at the bottom of the Persian Gulf.

The history of the presence of England in Bushehr goes back to 1763 AD to the time of Karim Khan Zand. The way for its military presence in Iran was paved by signing the Price-Sadun agreement. From 1812 AD, when the political office of England was opened in Bushehr, until their exit from this strategic port (1949 AD), the political and economic activities of the northern and southern shores of the Persian Gulf were managed through this port. Given the fact that, during the Qajar period, Bushehr was the most important commercial port of Iran as the gateway to the Persian Gulf, the study of its role in the decisions made by the English statesmen of that critical period is of prime importance. The present paper presents an analytic study of the historical place and significance of Bushehr in Iran-England relationships between the late 18th century and the early 20th century.

This paper reports on the status of the Persian Gulf and its shores and hinterlands during the Seleucid and Arsacid eras based on library sources and a combination of descriptive and analytic research methods. The Persian Gulf region endured some irreparable damage during the attack of Alexander’s army; however, it is still of prime importance in the political and economic changes and evolutions in Iran. During the Seleucid period, the security of waterways was established; several cities and ports with the name of Seleucia and Alexandria were built in critical military and commercial regions, and commerce with other countries, including India and European countries, flourished. In sum, the actions and proceedings of the Seleucids in the Persian Gulf indicate that they had perceived the political and economic significance of this region and took some effective measures in order to develop it. During the long period of the reign of the Arsacids, there were several ups and downs in the shores, islands, and ports of the Persian Gulf. Generally, however, given the Arsacids’ particular attention to trade relationships with the East and the West, the importance of the Persian Gulf increased even more than before. In 134-174 BC, at the time of the first Ashkanid Mehrdad, this region attained a supreme political and commercial status. In sum, we can say that, during the period of Arsacids, Iran’s transit role through the Persian Gulf attained so much importance that this waterway found a special place in the economic system of the country concerning trade between Iran and China, on the one hand, and between China and Rome, on the other hand.

In the various geo-political regions of the world, the competition among powers has developed a multi-layered nature and extended its domain from local and national scales to regional and trans-regional ones. At this point, one of the challenging and competitive scales is created in the regional nature of the powers; in other words, the different benefits of regional powers results in the development of a politically variable and a tight security atmosphere. Here, Iran and Saudi Arabia, as two equally powerful rivals, are both trying to increase their influence in the Persian Gulf region and in the world of Islam. This problem has resulted in an ever-increasing competition between the two countries both before and after the Iranian Islamic Revolution. After the Revolution, this competition has intensified in terms of the domain of influence of each country due to some conditions. Generally speaking, however, it has greatly affected the relationships between these two countries and has itself undergone several ups and downs. Moreover, at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, the Arab countries of the Gulf region, particularly Saudi Arabia, clearly showed their suspicions as to what they considered to be the attempts of the newly-developed Islamic Republic of Iran to export its Islamic-Shi’ite Revolution and the anti-West ideology to other countries. These suspicions were quite detectable in their reactions to Iran. Two years after the victory of the Revolution, these countries established the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf in order take a practical step towards standing against the presence of a new Iran in the region and remove their worries in this regard. In the course of the relationships between Iran and Saudi Arabia, these two countries have sometimes stood against each other regarding regional, cultural, and religious problems and have sometimes cooperated with each other concerning their shared benefits. In this paper, the researchers have tried to investigate the competitive atmosphere dominating the relationships between the two powers of the Persian Gulf region, namely, Iran and Saudi Arabia, after the Islamic Revolution. In doing so, they have employed the analytic-descriptive method of research and used library sources.

Like the other counties in Iran, Bandar Lengeh County has been gradually developed from the combination of various districts, rural districts, and villages. The proximity of Bandar Lengeh to the Persian Gulf has earned this county great historical and strategic importance. A study of the administrative divisions of Bandar Lengeh during the last 100 years shows that it was once a part of Fars (the seventh province of Iran) and Lar; once a part of the Governorate of the Ports and Islands of Oman, and finally a part of the Governorate of Bushehr and the Coastal Province of Ports and Islands, which later changed its name to Hormozgan Province. According to the National Census of 2011, Bandar Lengeh consists of four districts, eight rural districts, nine cities, and 174 villages.

The Mosque and tomb of Shaykh Borkh is a building in the historical village of Kousheh on Qeshm Island. The original building was built in the first Hijri century, but it was renovated in the years 244, 737, 1100, and 1307 Hijri. Therefore, given the age of this mosque and the events it has witnessed, it is necessary to examine the historical background of this building and what has remained of it today with more deliberation. The present building of the mosque and tomb of Shaykh Borkh is simple and has a concave structure, and rarely does anyone have a thorough knowledge of what happened there in the past. What locals know about this place is mixed with myths and stories which entail few traces of reality. Therefore, this study aimed to remove the ambiguities in this regard and, following a scientific approach, present an account of the historical background of this building and describe its present status. This study was conducted based on library research, document analysis, and field studies following a descriptive-analytic method.