Tehran, where a preliminary treaty of alliance was agreed upon. In
addition to a provision that obligated Iran to deny any European
army passage to India or the Persian Gulf, Britain agreed to a provision
requiring that it would assist Iran against any attack by a European
power, including one begun prior to the treaty. The assistance could
take the form of direct military action, subsidies, or mediation.^17
Britain's position in Iran was not yet secured. The shah still wished
to keep his options open and so did not break completely with the
French. Although Gardane had left in April, two members of his em-
bassy remained in Azerbaijan until the end of the year. As Fath 'Ali
explained to a member of the Jones mission, Britain wanted him to
break with France, which was not his enemy and was helping him in
the war with Russia. Britain professed friendship but had as yet pro-
vided no help. The shah used this occasion to pressure Britain into
giving large-scale assistance: 30,000 soldiers and 20,000 guns, or
200,000 tomans (about £150,000). At the same time, Lord Minto,
in a fit of pique that Jones and London had succeeded where he and
Malcolm had failed, did his best to sabotage the Jones mission. In
1809, he ceased to honor Jones's bills, thus raising doubts in Tehran
whether Jones was a legitimate representative of his government em-
powered to negotiate a treaty.
The following year Minto went further, firing Jones (which he
lacked the authority to do) and sending Malcolm to replace him.
Minto was jealous of his authority and wanted Malcolm to remain in
Iran even if London confirmed Jones's mission. As a result, the shah
then had three options: he could recall the French, who still corre-
sponded with him and sent secret emissaries to Iran; he could accept
the 1809 preliminary treaty, in which the exact terms of assistance
had not been specified; or he could try to obtain even more favor-
able terms from Malcolm, which seemed promising in light of Mal-
colm's extravagant gift giving on his first mission to Iran. The French
were clearly in the weaker position, although they kept trying to re-
coup their losses and the shah's government occasionally sent friendly
letters. Malcolm was initially well received, and various officials
wrote of their preference for dealing with him over Jones. That was
not surprising since Jones and Mirza Shafi' had clashed over the size of
the proposed subsidy. However, Mirza Bozorg favored Jones and had
considerable influence over the shah. Eventually, London thwarted
Minto's power play by confirming Jones as the official British repre-
sentative in Iran. Malcolm had to withdraw, but Jones was also re-
moved. In his place, London sent Sir Gore Ouseley, a former company
employee with a reputation as a Persian scholar. The new emissary
134 France and Britain in Iran