Russia returned Iranian provinces south of the Kura River in exchange for trade rights, reshaping Russo-Iranian borders for decades.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 21 January 1732
- Provinces returned to Iran
- Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astarabad
- Key boundary line
- Kura River
- Follow-up treaty
- Treaty of Ganja, 1735
- Trade beneficiary
- Russian merchants granted privileges in Iran
- Restored exile
- Georgian king Vakhtang VI promised restoration to Kartli
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Peter I of Russia had conquered Iranian provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astarabad in the early 1720s during the Russo-Persian War. By 1732, Russian control over these territories had become difficult to sustain, and Iran's de facto ruler Nader was militarily ascendant, creating pressure for a negotiated withdrawal.
On 21 January 1732, representatives of the Russian Empire and the Safavid Empire signed the Treaty of Resht in the city of Rasht. Russia renounced its claims to territories south of the Kura River and agreed to return the conquered provinces, while Iran granted trade privileges to Russian merchants and pledged to restore the exiled Georgian king Vakhtang VI to Kartli once Ottoman forces were expelled.
The treaty restored significant Iranian territory lost in the 1720s and normalized commercial relations between Russia and Iran. Its provisions were later reinforced and extended by the 1735 Treaty of Ganja, under which all regions north of the Kura River, including Derbent, Tarki, and Ganja, were also returned to Iranian suzerainty.
Political Outcome
Russia ceded territories south of the Kura River to Iran; Iran granted trade privileges to Russia and pledged to restore Vakhtang VI to Kartli.
Russia held Gilan, Mazandaran, and Astarabad following Peter I's conquests of the early 1720s.
Provinces returned to Iran; Russian influence shifted to trade rights rather than territorial control south of the Kura River.