Poland in Iran

Historical view 

Political and cultural relations between Poland and Persia began centuries ago. In 1474 Ambrogio Contarini, the envoy of Venetia, delivered to the Polish king Casimir Jagiellonian  a letter from Shah Uzun Hassan. The first documented visit of a Polish envoy,  Sefer Muratowicz, took place in 1602. One of his tasks was to buy a Persian carpet for the Polish court.

The diplomatic political agenda included coordination of actions in opposition to the Ottoman Empire as well as the protection of Christians in Persia by Persian shahs and Polish kings. A Polish priest Tadeusz J. Krusiński was invited by Persian authorities to assist in the creation of the first Iranian diplomatic archive. 

In our joint history we can find several unique moments that show our mutual respect and friendship. Persia and Turkey were the only two countries that never recognized the partition of Poland in 1795. Quite a few outstanding Polish individuals chose to live and work in Persia. To mention but a few, there was Aleksander Chodźko, a romantic poet and Russian consul in Rasht; Ignacy Pietraszewski – the renowned translator of Avesta and Karol Bohdanowicz, who pioneered the geological survey of the Khorasan Mountains.

The XXth century Poland,  having its independence restored, was determined to renew its contacts with Iran. In 1927 a Treaty of Friendship was concluded and the legations of Persia in Warsaw and Poland in Tehran were established. The period between the two World Wars was a time of revival of bilateral relations. Polish businessman and companies showed a deep interest in cooperating with their Iranian counterparts, especially in the oil, glassware, leather, food processing and furniture industries.

The most dramatic episode in the history of Polish-Iranian interactions came with the appearance of some 116,000 refugees from the Soviet Union in 1942, who found safe-haven on Iranian soil during the Second World War. Without any exaggeration it was the largest European migration trough Iran. Eighty-five thousand Polish soldiers soon left Iran for Iraq and Palestine, eventually going on to Italy. But Polish civilians stayed longer in Iran, some for a whole lifetime. Polish people were welcomed and treated with friendliness by Iranians. 

Based on: Witold Śmidowski, foreword to a publication  “Poland Persia”

Political cooperation after 1989

High-level visits from Iran to Poland: Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi (1989), Ministers of Foreign Affairs Ali Akbar Velajati (1993), Kamal Charrazi (2016), Mohammad Javad Zarif (2016), Vice President and head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi (2016). High-level visits from Poland to Iran: Minister of Foreign Affairs  Krzysztof Skubiszewski (1991) Minister of Foreign Affairs  Władysław Bartoszewski (2001) Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (2003) Radosław Sikorski (2014), Plenipotentiary for International Dialogue in the rank of Secretary of State in the government of Poland's Prime Minister Maria Anders (2017), Prime Minister Leszek Miller (2003).

Economic overview
Iran is the second largest economy in the Middle East region after Saudi Arabia, with an estimated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 603 billion. It also has the second largest population of the region after Egypt, with an estimated 80 million people. Iran’s economy is characterized by the hydrocarbon, agriculture and services sectors. Iran ranks second in the world in natural gas reserves and fourth in proven crude oil reserves. Economic activity and government revenues still depend to a large extent on oil revenues and therefore remain volatile. Income to the state budget form this branch of economy is estimated to be between 30% to 40%.

Iran's economic model can be described as a combination of the private sector with very large influence of state administration (especially in the field of mineral resources). Main economic entities belong to the state and private companies very often depend on them.

The current economic situation of IRI is to a large extent influenced by the US decision to withdraw from the JCPOA agreement and to re-impose economic sanctions on Iran. Iran cannot export its oil, several categories of goods cannot be exported to Iran, and a large number of Iranian companies  have been sanctioned, making it impossible for international companies to continue doing business with them. Due to sanctions there is no possibility of money transfers to and from IRI. Violent devaluation of Iranian rial and galloping inflation have become a serious problem for the Iranian economy. Main economic indicators have worsened during the last year. Moreover, to protect its internal market Iran introduced a list of approximately 1400 articles whose import is banned – a move that further limited trade opportunities with Iran. The EU trade mechanism (INSTEX) meant to address some of these difficulties is not operational as of December 2020.

Trade exchange
Iran's trade with the EU fell by 75% in the first half of 2019. Currently Iran has a negative trade balance with the EU: Iran’s exports to EU countries are worth EUR 477 million and dropped by almost 95%. The value of import of goods from the EU is estimated at almost EUR 3 billion and decreased by about 52% year-to-year (data for the first 6 months of 2019). For comparison, in 2017 the value of EU import was estimated at EUR 10.8 billion, and exports to the EU reached about EUR 10.1 billion.

Bilateral trade exchange between Poland and Iran in the first six months of 2019 amounted to approx. EUR 39.5 million. The trade balance is positive for Poland. Exports to Iran reached EUR 26 million and imports from Iran amounted to ca. EUR 13.5 million. Iran is not a leading partner in the Polish commodity exchange. In the aforementioned period the ratio of the share of trade between Iran and Poland amounted to only 0,02 % of total Polish exports and 0,01 % of total imports. For comparison, in 2018 the value of trade exchange was about 218 million euros.

Inflation
Inflation is a problem that Iran has been struggling with for many years. Over the past decade, its level has never dropped below 10%. In the years 2012-2013, official data pointed to inflation above the 30% threshold. Currently, the Central Bank of Iran estimates its level at around 9%. According to independent sources, inflation rate in Iran has hit 50%.

GDP
The International Monetary Fund estimates Iran's economy to shrink by -9.5%  in 2019 and to experience zero percent economic growth in 2020.

Unemployment
Official data for 2018 indicate unemployment at 12%. The largest percentage of people out of work remains in the youngest group (up to 29 years old) and amounts to 25.1%. Unemployment among women is estimated at 50%.

Links:
Polish Trade Office in Tehran 
Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture 
Trade Promotion Organization 
Custom Tariff Information (Integrated Tariff Information System) 
Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran – Invest in Iran
Iran International Exhibitions Co. 

In the period of March-September 1942 about 114 thousand Poles were were evacuated from the Soviet Union to Iran, and then to Iraq and Palestine. Beside soldiers of the Polish Army of general Anders, there were 25 thousand civilians including more than 13 thousand children. For those civilians Iran became for more than two years their second home, especially for children of whom a considerable part were orphans. In Isfahan there were almost twenty boarding schools established for them.

Due to hunger and epidemic diseases they suffered in Russia, many of them died in Iran. There are two Polish cemeteries, six Polish sections and several single Polish graves at different cemeteries in Iran - all together 2806 graves, including 650 military graves (none of the Polish officers and soldiers buried in Iran was killed in action - they died of malnourishment and epidemic diseases).

Tehran, Dulab - Polish Cemetery - 1892 graves (408 military graves):

• Bandar-Anzali - Polish Cemetery, situated at Armenian Cemetery - 639 graves (163 military graves)
• Tehran - Polish section at the Jewish Cemetery - 56 graves (13 military graves);
• Ahwaz - Polish section at Catholic cemetery - 102 graves (22 military graves);
• Mashad - Polish section at Armenian Cemetery - 29 graves (16 military graves);
• Isfahan - Polish section at Armenian Cemetery - 18 graves (1 military grave);
• Tehran, Golhak – Commonwealth War Cemetery - 10 Polish military graves;

There are also two Polish graves that may be considered of particular historical interest:

• The grave of Teodor MIRANOWICZ, Envoy of the king of Poland, who died and was buried in Isfahan in  1686;
• The grave of general Antoni RADZIWILL de BOROWSKI, who died in Tehran in 1898, buried at Catholic Cemetery, Dulab, Tehran.