ABSTRACT
The second era in Persian foreign relations in the Middle East started since the rise of Islam and the conquest of the Arab Muslims in the early seventh century up to the fall of the Timurid Empire in the late fifteenth century and the rise of the Safavid Empire in 1502. For a century, Persia was ruled by Arab governors who were responsible to the Umayyad Caliphate in Damascus. Therefore, during Medieval Persia, Iran was under the rule of the Arab Caliphates of the Umayyad and the Abbāsid, followed by the Mongol Ilkhanate dynasty as well as the Timurid Empire for less than nine centuries. Local dynasties, to a greater or lesser extent enjoying de facto independence, emerged in the Levant, North Africa, Egypt, Persia and Central Asia. Also, the Mongol-dominated Middle East, predominantly in Persia, coincided with the roughly two-century Crusades, mainly during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. For these reasons, the Persian agent lacked integrated governments with independent foreign policies and was subordinated to the regional structure and order. It means that Persian foreign relations remained an underdeveloped topic during this period. Accordingly, Iranian asymmetrical relationships in the Middle East during Medieval Persia were mainly cooperative and positive. However, it was quasi-negative under the quasi-independent Shi’a Buyids.
