The Importance of the Third Force in Iran's Foreign Policy During the Safavid Period

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Political History, Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran

2 PhD student in post-Islamic Iranian history, Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Arak University, Arak, Iran

Abstract

The formation of the Safavid government as a Shiite state is one of the most important chapters in the history of Iran and Islam in the world. The first foreign relations in the Safavid era, took place with the Portuguese and later with Spain. The Safavid government, for various reasons, including rivalry with the Ottomans, neglected to pay serious attention to the political and economic affairs of the Persian Gulf on the other hand, the Portuguese and the Spaniards, relying on their military and naval forces and their colonial ideas, monopolized trade in the Persian Gulf, thereby inflicted irreparable damage on Iran's political sovereignty in the Persian Gulf. Permanent or temporary alliance with the Third Force was one of the strategies in the history of Iran's foreign relations to establish relative stability and security. The third force in Iran's foreign relations was the use of a third emerging power to restrain the first and second powers, whose threats and exploitation have always annoyed Iran. Iran sought a strong political and military ally to obviate its needs and deal with its enemies. Therefore, Iran's relations with Britain were formed as a third force against Spain and Portugal. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact and socio-political developments on Iran's foreign policy in the era of Shah-Abbas Safavi and determine the position of European states in Iran's foreign relations and policy in this period. The findings of this study showed that Iran's historical relations with European countries have had ups and downs during the Safavid period. Establishment, expansion and stabilization of trade and economic relations in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean and the alliance against the Ottomans, were recognized as the most effective factors in establishing relations between Iran and the governments of Portugal and Spain. Also, during this period, in order to get out of the military threats and economic recession in the Iranian ports on the Persian Gulf coast, a favorable opportunity was provided for the British presence in Iran as the East India Company.

Keywords

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Discourse of History
Volume 15, Issue 34 - Serial Number 34
Volume 15, Issue 34, Summer 2021
July 2021
Pages 29-54

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