By the Treaty of Constantinople (signed in 1724), Russia and Turkey decided to partition Iran. Turkey was to obtain, in addition to the territories already conquered, Erivan, Ganja, and Nakhichevan plus large areas in Azerbaijan such as Tabriz, Marand, and Urumiyah. In return for these territorial gains Turkey withdrew its previous objection to the cession of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astarabad to Russia as contemplated by Russia’s agreement with Tahmasb Mirza. Russia also promised Turkey to persuade Tahmasb Mirza, or compel him if necessary, to surrender all the provinces that were allotted to the Porte under the partition treaty of 1724. The death of Peter the Great in 1725 brought Russia's bold advance in Iran to a halt, but Turkey lost no time in taking possession of the Iranian territories allotted to it under the agreement with Russia. By 1727, despite the stiff opposition of Ashraf, the Afghan ruler of Isfahan, Turkey had conquered all the western provinces of Iran. This dramatic advance brought Turkey closer to subjugating Iran than at any other time in the long era of Irano-Turkish hostility. Ashraf felt compelled to acknowledge, as the head of the government of Isfahan, that his state was a "tributary state” depending upon the Porte. As the result of the Afghan, Turkish, and Russian occupations Iran was stripped of its territorial sovereignty and political independence (Source: The Foreign Policy of Iran).
Covered Colonialization of Persia in the Absence of Powerful Foreign Policy
