This article examines the nature of Iranian–Russian diplomatic relations in the half century after the death of Shah ᶜAbbas I in 1629, probing the conflicts and mutual interests that prompted the two states to exchange envoys in this period of diminishing high-level contact. In particular, it seeks to reconstruct the Russian mission that visited the court of Shah ᶜAbbas II in 1664. By all accounts, this mission was treated in a most humiliating way in Isfahan, seemingly in accordance with what outsiders describe the contempt the Iranians felt for Russians. A careful examination of the available sources shows that the poor treatment of its members was due as much to concrete geopolitical concerns and anxieties as to the sense of civilizational superiority the Iranians may have felt vis-à-vis Russians.

This paper re-examines the causes of outbreak of Second Russo-Iranian War and the factors that played a role in its escalation into fully fledged war. The paper challenges the common perception that Qajar Iran played a major role in the outbreak of the war and proposes that the Qajar court took a defensive posture vis-à-vis aggressive Russian provocation originated in Tiflis and was merely reacting to it. The paper then examines policy differences between Tiflis and the court of St Petersburg as a contributing factor in the outbreak of the war. Finally, the paper examines two different and contradictory views of imperial Russia and its internal politics and military capabilities among Qajar Iran's decision makers during 1825–28. It is argued that the two perceptions eventually translated into two factions, each lobbying the shah for and against escalation of hostilities with Russia.

The article examines the history of the relationship between the Iranian and the Russian monarchies during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Drawing on a broad range of hitherto unexplored sources in Russian, the article analyzes Russian attitudes towards the Qajars, for whom the Romanov tsars were at the same time the most important ally and the biggest threat. The article focuses on the symbols and ceremonies by which the monarchs represented their relations, and by which they expressed symbolic competition, recognition and domination. The article thus opens a new perspective on Russia's influence on the Qajars and also raises questions about the comparative history of both monarchies.

This article reveals the story of Russia's attempts to colonize Astarabad and Mazanderan provinces of Iran in the early twentieth century. By backing and sponsoring Russian settlements there, the Russian government sought to eventually annex the territories in the northeast of Iran. Drawing on Russian and Iranian sources, the article follows the development of the settlements from their spontaneous beginning in 1907 to a state-supported colonization project by 1914. After the Russian government tried to accelerate colonization of the occupied Iranian territories during the First World War, this ambitious project came to an end with the Bolshevik coup of 1917.

In the 1990s, Russia and Iran successfully laid the foundations for interaction and expanded their spheres of cooperation. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, their relations developed unevenly. These fluctuations depended on the combination of global and regional factors, as well as on the internal circumstances in each country. Russia's participation in international sanctions has aroused discontent in Iran. Despite this, the political establishments of both countries continue to demonstrate an interest in developing bilateral relations and to reaffirm their shared geopolitical interests. This paper analyzes foreign policy documents and the latest research by Russian and Iranian scholars. It strives to shed light on the question: “To what extent and in what areas do the interests of Russia and Iran coincide, and what is the foundation for their potential future development?”