Western interest in Persia was based on its significant oil reserve and its strategic situation between Afghanistan and the warring Ottoman, Russian, and British Empires. Persia was divided into northern and southern spheres of influence under the Anglo-Russian Treaty of 1907. The treaty defined their respective spheres of influence in homeland and Afghanistan and provided a counterweight to German influence.
This treaty was widely viewed by persians as having made the nation into nothing more than a British and Russian protectorate, so during the World War I, many local protesters occurred in homeland against the British and Russian forces participating in war against Central powers of World War I. The ships arrived off Dilwar on the morning of August 10, but they discovered the survey of the coast previously made was unreliable and they had to seek safe anchorages; also a shamal wind was blowing, preventing landings.
