ABSTRACT
The first period began in the 1820s, when Britain began to achieve dominance in the Persian Gulf, and ended in 1971, when it withdrew from east of Suez. British dominance challenged Iran’s historic ascendancy in the Gulf and brought regional autonomy to an end. Iran, with an eye on India’s experience, looked with suspicion to the steps Britain took in the aftermath of its 1819–20 military operations against the Piratical Coast. These steps, including the signing of a wide variety of formal treaties and agreements with Arab rulers that restricted their international capacity, allowed Britain wide latitude to make the arrangements necessary for its lasting presence in the area. The British policy reversal that accompanied its withdrawal from the region—namely, the expedient discontinuance of Britain’s claims to the three islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb for its Arab proteges—was an important hallmark of the those period.
