The british-Russian opposition in the Middle East as the reaction to attempt the geostrategic strengthening of Russia in the region in 1830th

The article considers the geopolitical role of Herat in the context of international relations in the Middle East, and the analysis of the dynamic of political relations between the countries which participated in the first Herat conflict. The authors reveal the influence of Russia and Great Britain on the formation of the Iranian foreign policy course. Particular attention is paid to the peacekeeping mission of Jan Witkiewicz aimed at forming a tripartite coalition of Iran, Afghanistan and Herat. It could for some time postpone the aggravation of interstate contradictions, in general, and the relations between Britain and Russia, in particular. The Herat crisis turned Russia into an intermediary in Anglo-Iranian relations, in fact changed the role of our country in comparison with the one it played in the first third of the XIX century.