ABSTRACT
The next, and by far the most important point, which Wolff urged upon the Shah was the opening of the Karun about which, as he put it, ‘all the British mercantile interests in Persia’ were anxious.1 Prior to the arrival of the new British envoy, the Shah, being aware of his country’s need for Britain’s support vis-a-vis Russia, and to some extent due to Nicolson’s representations, had almost agreed to the opening of the river provided the concession was granted to a Persian entity.2 But Wolff’s diplomacy, after much clever manoeuvering, secured for Britain ‘the virtual monopoly of the Karun trade’.3
