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France among the Most-Favored Nations: The French Commercial Policy and Influence in Iran (1815–48)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Mehdi Mousavi
Mehdi Mousavi*
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Delaware
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Abstract

Iran's subjection to Russo-British influence has received the bulk of attention of modern scholarship dealing with the country's interaction with the outside world in the nineteenth century. This article, while not denying the central role played by these two powers in Iran’s domestic affairs at the time, draws attention to a third power with long-standing claims to influence in the country by way of trade policies—France. From the fall of Napoleon in 1815 until the French Revolution of 1848, the French monarchy was especially keen to encourage commerce with Iran, less as a source of increased wealth than to restore and expand French prestige and political influence. This strategy became more significant, when the British and Russian superpowers opposed an active French presence in Iran and prevented France from asserting influence in the country. To contain those powers, France pursued its plan of reaching a trade treaty with Iran as a means of obtaining commercial concessions and privileges as well as to secure its permanent presence in the country. France also aimed to connect Iran to its network of regional trade extending from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.

Keywords

Qajar diplomacyFrench policy in IranAnglo-Russian competitionCommercial TreatyPolitical Influence
Type
Iran in the World
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 54 , Issue 1-2 , March 2021 , pp. 143 - 167
Copyright
Copyright © Association For Iranian Studies, Inc 2021

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Footnotes

My sincere thanks are due to Rudi Matthee for his reading of the draft and thoughtful comments. I also thank the three anonymous reviewers of Iranian Studies for their comments and suggestions.

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