The Treaty of Akhal was a treaty signed by Persia and Imperial Russia on September 21, 1881. The treaty marked Persia's official recognition of Khwarazm's annexation by the Russian Empire. After Persia had been considerably weakened by its defeat in 1860, and with the increasing occupation of Great Britain in Egypt, during the years of 1873 to 1881, Imperial Russia stepped up its campaign to wrest full control over the Central Asian region from Persian dominance^{[citation needed]}. Hence forces led by Generals Mikhail Skobelev, Ivan Lazarev, and Konstantin Kaufman spearheaded the campaign, with Persia unable to react. The immobilized Nasereddin Shah sent foreign secretary Mirza Sa'eed Khan Mo'tamen ol-Mulk to meet Ivan Zinoviev and sign a treaty in Tehran. By virtue of this treaty, Persia would henceforth cease any claim to all parts of Turkestan and Transoxiania, setting the Atrek River as the new boundary. Hence Merv, Sarakhs, Eshgh Abad, and the surrounding areas were transferred to Russian control under the command of General Alexander Komarov in 1884.