a year. In sum, France's involvement in Iran initially bolstered Iranian
hopes. When this alliance proved counterproductive, the shah did not
abandon the principle but rather looked for a different ally — Britain.1S
Since the British and then the French had courted the shah, it was
not surprising that he thought he had some leeway to play the one
against the other and thus obtain the greatest assistance against Russia.
The British reaction under these circumstances was poorly coordinated.
The first British action regarding Iran since the Manesty fiasco was
taken by Lord Minto, the governor-general of the East India Company's
holdings in India. He reacted to the Franco-Iranian alliance by sending
John Malcolm back to Iran. Part of Malcom's problems stemmed
from the fact that he reached Iran in the summer of 1808 at at time
when Fath 'Ali still hoped that the French would obtain a favorable
peace agreement. However, another important cause of his failure
was his hectoring tone. He scolded the Iranians for failing to comply
with the anti-French provisions of the 1801 treaty and implied that
the shah would face Britain's wrath unless the French were expelled
immediately. Malcolm was indignant that the Iranians were preoccu-
pied by their own self-interest and did not comply with his demand
regarding the Gardane mission. Even Lord Minto faulted Malcolm's
contemptuous treatment of the Iranians. The shah considered Britain
to have violated the treaty by not aiding him against Russia and would
allow Malcolm no more than to negotiate with the governor of Fars,
perhaps with the intention of using this as a way of pressuring Gar-
dane. Malcolm, of course, refused the terms and withdrew. In any case,
he seems to have been more interested in using this incident as a justifi-
cation for seizing an island in the Persian Gulf for use as a commercial
center and military base than in negotiating.^16
London was also concerned about developments in Iran, and in
1807 had appointed Harford Jones as the king's envoy to Fath 'Ali.
Jones was a longtime company servant, resident at Basra from 1786
to 1794 and at Baghdad around the turn of the century. During those
years, he visited southern Iran several times and befriended a number
of prominent individuals, among them Mirza Bozorg, who had been a
vizier in the Zand government. Unlike Malcolm,o Tones J seems to have
felt genuine admiration for a number of Iranians and tried to under-
stand their views. Although appointed before Malcolm, he reached
India shortly after Malcolm's departure for Iran. He then waited for
the outcome of that mission and did not arrive in Iran until the close
of 1808. Unlike his predecessor, Jones emphasized the desirability of
improving Anglo-Iranian relations. Fath 'Ali was more inclined to lis-
ten after the breakdown of the peace talks and summoned Jones to
France and Britain in Iran 133