takings" and who allowed others, including his mother and boon
companions as well as some able people, to run the government.^20
While Paul believed he was dealing from strength in his relations
with Fath 'Ali, he never tried to browbeat the shah. Instead, he made
gestures of good will in the hope of establishing mutually beneficial
relations between the two countries. Even before he received Fath
'All's letters, Paul took steps to counter the belligerent tone of
Catherine's dealings with Iran. He discontinued his mother's ban on
the navigation of the Caspian by Iranian naval vessels, insisting that
nothing be done to hamper their movement as long as they did not
interfere with Russian shipping. As much as he anticipated the riches
to be derived from Russo-Iranian commerce, he rejected the advice
of his officials that it was essential that the Russian commercial base
at Anzali include a stone fort. It had been the construction of such
a fort there in the 1780s that had done so much to persuade Hedaya-
tollah and Aqa Mohammad that Russia was their enemy. Character-
istic of Paul's attempt to be fair and reasonable in his dealings with
Iran was the way he instructed Fath 'Ali in the duties of a good
neighbor, requiring that the shah take no action hostile to Russia
while also setting the same standard for himself and his allies, includ-
ing the king of Georgia and Kovalenskii, who were to be good neigh-
bors to the shah.^21
This did not mean that the tsar shrank from defending Russia's in-
terests. In military matters, he demanded the punishment of Iranians
who had encouraged anti-Russian actions during the Zubov campaign
and required the shah to allow the use of any Caspian port by any
Russian vessel in need, even warships. In commercial matters, he in-
sisted that the shah had no right to interfere with a Russian consul's
exercise of his duties anywhere in Iran and wanted the shah to guar-
antee that Russian merchants would no longer be required to pay im-
port tariffs once they had paid at the port of entry. Even in pressing
these demands, Paul tried to show that he was not being unfair. He
promised that no warships would approach Iranian ports unless they
were in difficulty and cited Russian practice in taxing imports by
Iranian merchants as the basis for the treatment he wanted for Rus-
sian merchants in Iran.
In addition, Paul made a number of friendly gestures toward Iran.
He ordered the release of Iranian merchants who had been caught
trying to leave Astrakhan with gold currency and metal wares, the
export of which had been prohibited by law until 1798. He further
agreed to the shah's request that Iranian merchants be allowed to
buy thousands of tons of iron and steel, which were still subject to
56 Russian Policy: Questions and Continuity