Franco - Persian alliance A Franco - Iranian alliance was formed for a short period between the French Empire of Napoleon I and Fath Ali Shah against Russia and Great Britain between 1807 to 1809 . The alliance was part of a grand Napoleonic scheme to cross the Middle East in order to attack British India . The alliance unravelled when France finally allied with Russia and turned its focus to European campaigns . Background . Due to the traditional friendly relations of France with the Ottoman Empire formalized by a long - standing Franco - Ottoman alliance , the relations of France with the Iran had long been minimal . Instead , a Habsburg - Persian alliance had developed during the 16th century , and when Persian embassies visited Europe with the Persian embassy to Europe ( 1599 – 1602 ) and the Qagarie embassy to Europe ( 1609 – 1615 ) , they pointedly avoided France . First rapprochement . Later however , France developed relations with Iran and signed treaties in 1708 and 1715 with the visit of an Iranian embassy to Louis XIV , but these relations ceased in 1722 with the fall of the Safavid dynasty and the invasion of Iran by the Afghans . Attempts to resume contact were made following the French revolution , as France was in conflict with Russia and wished to find an ally against that country . In 1796 , two scientists , Jean - Guillaume Bruguières and Guillaume - Antoine Olivier , were sent to Iran by the Directoire , but were unsuccessful in obtaining an agreement . Soon however , with the advent of Napoleon I , France adopted a strongly expansionist policy in the Mediterranean and the Near East . Following the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797 , France acquired possessions in the Mediterranean such as the Ionian islands as well as former Venetian bases on the coast of Albania and Greece , geographically close to the Middle - East . Napoleon Bonaparte launched the French Invasion of Egypt in 1798 and fought against the Ottomans to establish a French presence in the Middle East , with the ultimate dream of linking with a Muslim enemy of the British in India , Tippu Sahib . Napoleon assured the Directoire that " " as soon as he had conquered Egypt , he will establish relations with the Indian princes and , together with them , attack the English in their possessions . " " According to a 13 February 1798 report by Talleyrand : " " Having occupied and fortified Egypt , we shall send a force of 15 , 000 men from Suez to India , to join the forces of Tipu - Sahib and drive away the English . " " Napoleon was initially defeated by the Ottoman Empire and Britain at the Siege of Acre in 1799 , and at the Battle of Abukir in 1801 ; by 1802 , the French were completely vanquished in the Middle East . In order to reinforce the Western border of British India , the diplomat John Malcolm was sent to Iran to sign the Anglo - Persian Treaty of 1801 . The Treaty offered English support against Russia and trade advantages , and explicitly provided against French intervention in Iran : Soon however , from 1803 , Napoleon went to great lengths to try to convince the Ottoman Empire to fight against Russia in the Balkans and join his anti - Russian coalition . Napoleon sent General Horace Sebastiani as envoy extraordinary , promising to help the Ottoman Empire recover lost territories . In February 1806 , following Napoleon ' s remarkable victory in the December 1805 Battle of Austerlitz and the ensuing dismemberment of the Habsburg Empire , Selim III finally recognized Napoleon as Emperor , formally opting for an alliance with France " " our sincere and natural ally " " , and war with Russia and Britain . Iranian alliance . Napoleon ' s motivation . In his grand scheme to reach India ( the " India Expedition " ) , the next step for Napoleon was now to develop an alliance with the Persian Empire . Early 1805 , Napoléon sent one of his officers Amédée Jaubert on a mission to Persia . He would return to France in October 1806 . Iranian motivation . On the other hand , the Shah of Persia needed help against the Russian menace to his northern frontiers , as Russia had annexed Eastern Georgia in 1801 following the death of George XII of Georgia . General Tsitsianov occupied Georgia against rival Iranian and Ottoman claims , and attacked Erevan in Iran in 1804 , triggering a Russo - Persian War , and soon the Russo - Turkish War was also declared in 1806 . Britain , an ally of Russia , had been temporizing without a clear show of support . The Shah decided to respond to Napoleon ' s offers , sending a letter carried by ambassador Mirza Mohammed Reza - Qazvini ( Mirza Riza ) to the court of Napoleon , then in Tilsit in eastern Germany . In his instructions to the ambassador , the Shah explained that : The Shah also clearly considered helping France in the invasion of India : The Shah however denied the possibility of providing a port to the French " on they way to Hindustan " . Alliance and military mission . Following the visit of the Iran Envoy Mirza Mohammed Reza - Qazvini to Napoleon , the Treaty of Finckenstein formalized the alliance on 4 May 1807 , in which France supported Persia ' s claim to Georgia , promising to act so that Russia would surrender the territory . In exchange , Persia was to fight Great Britain , and to allow France to cross the Persian territory to reach India . A military mission was also sent under General Antoine Gardanne in order to help modernize the Persian army , and in order to chart an invasion route to India . Gardanne also had the missions to coordinate Ottoman and Persian efforts against Russia . Gardanne ' s mission consisted in 70 commissioned and non - commissioned officers , and started to work at modernizing the Persian army along European lines . The mission arrived on 4 December 1807 . Captains of infantry Lamy and Verdier trained the " Nezame Jadid " ( New Army ) , which served under Prince Abbas Mirza . This modernized army successfully defeated a Russia Army attack on the strategic city of Erevan on 29 November 1808 , showing the efficiency of French training . Lieutenants of artillery Charles - Nicolas Fabvier and Reboul were sent by Gardanne to Ispahan in order to set up a factory to produce cannon s for the Persian artillery , complete with foundries , lathes , machinery and instruments . Against great odds , by December 1808 , they had managed to produce 20 pieces of cannon in the European style , which were transported to Tehran . The 19th century diplomat Sir Justin Sheil commented positively on the French contribution in modernizing the Persian army : The embassy of Gardanne to Persia soon lost one of the main reasons for its original dispatch . In a final reversal , Napoleon I finally vanquished Russia at the Battle of Friedland in July 1807 , and France and Russia became allied at the Treaty of Tilsit . General Gardanne arrived in Tehran in Persia after the Treaty of Tilsit , in December 1807 . Napoleon however wished to continue fostering the Franco - Persian alliance , in order to pursue his plan of invading India . To this effect , he planned to nominate his brother Lucien Bonaparte as his representative in Tehran . Napoleon still planned to invade British India , this time with Russian help . A Persian ambassador was sent to Paris , named Askar Khan Afshar . He arrived in Paris on 20 July 1808 and was able to meet Napoleon on 4 September 1808 . Persia however lost the main motivation for the alliance , the recovery of Georgia and Azerbaidjan over Russia , which had not even been addressed at the Treaty of Tilsit . The Franco - Persian alliance thus lost its main motivation as France and Russia were now allied . The Shah of Persia again turned to the British for military advisers . In the east , a mutual defense treaty was signed between British India and Shah Shuja al - Mulk of Afghanistan on 17 June 1809 in order to better resist the Franco - Persian threat , but by that time Persia had already denounced its alliance with France . Return of a British alliance . After the failed mission of John Malcolm in 1808 , who was only allowed to negotiate with the Governor of Fars , Sir Harford Jones managed to sign in March 1809 a preliminary treaty with Persia and General Gardanne was returned to France . In another mission in 1810 , Malcolm brought a large mission of officers , one of whom , Lindsay Bethune , would become Commander - in - Chief of the Persian army for several years . In 1809 - 1810 , the Shah sent ambassador Haji Mirza Abul Hasan Khan to the Court in London , immortalized as Hajji Baba by diplomat James Morier . According to Sir Justin Sheil : Epilogue . The alliance between France and the Ottoman Empire was maintained , and a peace settlement was brokered between Russia and the Ottomans , but the territories the Ottomans had been promised ( Moldavia and Wallachia ) through the Treaty of Tilsit were never returned , although the Ottomans themselves had complied with their part of the agreement by moving their troops south of the Danube . Meanwhile a Russo - Persian war raged on despite France and Russia ' s efforts to try to reach a settlement between Russia and Persia . In 1812 Persia had to face a major defeat against Russia at the Battle of Aslandoz , forcing the Shah to negotiate the Treaty of Gulistan , on 12 October 1813 . In 1812 , through the Treaty of Bucharest , the Ottoman Empire and Russia also agreed to make peace , just as Russia was anxious to liberate this southern front in anticipation of Napoleon ' s Invasion of Russia , with Russia keeping Bessarabia and the Ottomans regaining Wallachia and Moldavia . After the fall of Napoleon , a French officer named Jean - François Allard visited Abbas Mirza to propose his services . He was promised the position of a Colonel , but never actually received the troops corresponding to his function . In 1820 , Allard left for Punjab where he played a great role . After a long period of exchanges between Persia and Great Britain , diplomatic relations with France resumed in 1839 following a dispute between Great Britain and Persia over the Afghanistan city of Herat . Great Britain would remove its military and diplomatic missions from Persia , and occupy Kharg island and attack Bushehr . Mohammad Shah Qajar would in turn resume diplomatic relations with France , and send a diplomatic mission to Louis - Philippe under Mirza Hossein Khan to obtain military help . In response , a group of French officers was sent to Persia with the returning ambassador . In 1857 , during the Anglo - Persian War ( 1856 – 1857 ) , a Persian ambassador named Ferouk Khan was sent to Napoleon III , who expressed his regrets about the conflict . Negotiations led to the March 1857 Treaty of Paris , which put an end to the Anglo - Persian War .