The Russian Embassy in Tehran (Persian: سفارت روسیه در تهران) is the official diplomatic mission of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Since 1915, it has been located at Atabek Garden.

Attack on the embassy

In 1828, Russian diplomat

Alexander Griboyedov Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (; 15 January 179511 February 1829) was a Russian diplomat, playwright, poet, and composer. His one notable work is the 1823 verse comedy '' Woe from Wit''. He was Russia's ambassador to Qajar Persia, where he and ...

found out that some Georgian and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

women lived among Iranian men, and considered this a violation of the

Treaty of Turkmenchay The Treaty of Turkmenchay (; ) was an agreement between Qajar Iran and the Russian Empire, which concluded the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828). It was second of the series of treaties (the first was the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the last, the ...

. He then requested that they be extradited to Russia, and with the help of '' Mirza Yakub'', successfully received two women from the house of

Asef al-Dowleh Allahyar Khan Devellu-Qajar Asef al-Dowleh () was the prime minister of Qajar Iran, Iran under Fath-Ali Shah Qajar () from 1824 to 1828. Asef al-Dowleh was a hardline proponent of intensifying the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), Russo-Iranian Wa ...

into his delegation. Popular discontent against this humiliating move led to an increase in

anti-Russian sentiment Anti-Russian sentiment or Russophobia is the dislike or fear of Russia, Russians, Russian people, or Culture of Russia, Russian culture. The opposite of Russophobia is Russophilia. Historically, Russophobia has included state-sponsored and gr ...

, and some attacked the Russian embassy as a response to this extradition, which was further fueled by

Ijtihad ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ' , ) is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a legal question. It is contrasted with '' taqlid'' ( ...

'' Mirza Masih''. The attack happened on February 11, 1829, and led to the death of most officials working in the embassy, including Griboyedov and '' Mirza Yakub''. Griboyedov's body was later transported and buried in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

. After this incident, the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

of Iran,

Fath-Ali Shah Qajar Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (; 5 August 1772 – 24 October 1834) was the second Shah of Qajar Iran. He reigned from 17 June 1797 until his death on 24 October 1834. His reign saw the irrevocable ceding of Iran's northern territories in the Caucasus, com ...

, sent a delegation to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to deliver an official letter of apology to Tsar Nicholas I, in hopes of preventing further deterioration of relations. As a compromise, the Iranian delegation agreed to put Mirza Masih into exile to

Al-Atabat Al-Aliyat Al-Atabat Al-Aliyat (Arabic: العتبات العالیات lit. ''sublime thresholds''), which is also known as Al-Atabat Al-Muqaddasa (literally: holy doorsteps) are the shrines of six Shia Imams which are in four cities of Iraq, namely Najaf, ...

, which is in modern-day

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. One member of the delegation offered condolences to Griboyedov's family, and the Shah even personally gifted the

Shah Diamond The Shah Diamond was found at the Golconda mines in what is now Telangana, South India, probably in 1450, and it is currently held in the Diamond Fund collection of Moscow's Kremlin Armoury. Physical description The Shah Diamond is not of the ...

to the Tsar.

Refuge of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar

On July 13, 1909, the

constitutionalists Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional to ...

successfully gained power in the

Triumph of Tehran The Triumph of Tehran () refers to the entrance of the pro-constitutionalists in Tehran on 13 July 1909, which led Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar to seek refuge at the Russian legation in Tehran, before he was sent to exile.Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar (‎; 21 June 1872 – 5 April 1925) was the sixth shah of the Qajar dynasty and remained the Shah of Iran from 8 January 1907 until being deposed on 16 July 1909. He was furthermore the grandson of Iran’s early mod ...

and force him to seek refuge. He stayed at the Russian embassy for a short period before being forced into exile to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

itself.

Current building

In September 1915, Russia rented Atabek Park, which was then owned by a Russian bank in Iran. The bank rented the park to the government, and charged 1,650 Manats until March 1916, and 6,000 Manats per year for three years after that. The Russian government paid the rent until its own revolution in 1917. The building returned to the ownership of the bank, which it agreed to return to Iranian ownership in 1921 following the Russo-Persian Friendship Treaty. The Soviet foreign minister requested that the embassy be relocated to Atabek Park, and the Iranian foreign minister agreed. Following the establishment of an Iranian national bank, neither the bank nor the Soviet Foreign Ministry officially registered Atabek Park. The Soviet Foreign ministry considered it to be Iranian property, and requested that it pay rent to the bank, or in return, Moscow will provide a building for the Iranian embassy. The Iranian side never responded. The main architect of the building is '' Mirza Mehdi Khan Shaghaghi'', who was the first engineer who personally designed it and supervised its construction.

Tehran Conference

The

Tehran Conference The Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of the Allies of World War II, held between Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943. It was the first of the Allied World Wa ...

was secretly held in the Soviet Embassy in Tehran during December 6-9, 1943. The main attendees of the conference were British PM

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

, American president

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, and Soviet leader

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. The conference successfully concluded with an agreement to open a second front in the European theatre of WWII.

List of ambassadors

* '' Alexander Sadovnikov'' * '' Levan Dzhagarian''

* Consulate of Russia, Tabriz * Iran-Russia Relations * Atabek Park

References

External links

Official Website
{{Diplomatic missions in Iran Ambassadors of Russia to Iran Iran–Russia relations

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...