FROM TABRIZ TO ST. PETERSBURG: Iran's Mission of Apology to Russia in 1829

By George A. Bournoutian

Following the murder of Griboedov, the Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary of Russia and the massacre of the entire Russian Legation, by an angry mob, on February 11, 1829, the government of Iran dispatched a mission with an official apology from the Shah to Tsar Nicholas I. The mission, headed by Khosrow Mirza, the 16-year-old son of Crown Prince `Abbas Mirza, left Iran in early May and returned in February after successfully accomplishing its task. The young Prince had not only charmed the Tsar, and the nobility, but had also managed to cancel the ninth payment of the indemnity amounting to half a million tomans and had obtained a five-year grace period for the payment of the tenth. His skillful diplomacy saved Iran from Russian retaliation, strengthened Russo-Iranian ties, and reduced the British influence in his land.

Mazda Publishing (2014)