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Photo:http://www.flickr.com/people/pushandplay/ --- Alexander Griboyedov (1795-1829) was a Russian author and diplomat. He was also Russia's assistant ambassador to Iran during the era which has been dubbed "The Great Game" in which Tsarist Russia had expansionits ambitions in the Caucasus and Central Asia at the expense of Iran and the Ottomans. Griboyedov was murdered in 1829 by an anti-Russian angry mob in Tehran, along with the entire Russian diplomatic mission. The rioting in Tehran went on for four days as the Persian authorities stood helpless in trying to prevent it. Today, in the Kremlin, is displayed an 89-carat diamond, sent by the Shah of Persia of the time, Mohammad Shah Qajar, to the Russian Tsar by way of an apology. Russian scholars have later speculated that the mob and the murder of Griboyedov was the work of a British conspiracy.
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North Africa/Middle East
