Mexico and the Qhājār Empire: The Genesis of a Diplomatic Friendship

Abstract

This study analyzes the genesis of the diplomatic relations between Mexico and Qhājār Persia, from their conception in 1864, when Mexico was under French occupation, to 1925, the rise to power of the Pahlavi Dynasty in Iran, paying special attention to the Porfiriato (1876-1911) and the Mexican Revolution. This is a period of Mexican history that illustrates the interest of this Latin American country in expanding its foreign relations to latitudes never reached before, as well as the role of its embassies in Europe as the main diplomatic liaison with the Middle East. It is thus at this time of history that Mexico City and Tehran, despite the distance between them and their seemingly discrepant nation-state building processes, decide to establish an official relation, thus planting a seed of friendship whose fruit still blossoms today.