The
Ottoman–Safavid War of 1623–1639 was the last of a series of conflicts fought between the
Ottoman Empire and
Safavid Persia, then the two major powers of the
Near East, over control of
Mesopotamia. After initial Persian success in recapturing
Baghdad and most of modern
Iraq, having lost it for several years, the war became a stalemate as the Persians were unable to press further into the Ottoman Empire, and the Ottomans themselves were distracted by wars in Europe and weakened by internal turmoil. Eventually, the Ottomans were able to recover Baghdad, and the signing of the
Treaty of Zuhab ended the war in an Ottoman victory, with Mesopotamia, despite parts of it being briefly taken several times further on in history by the Persians notably by
Nader Shah, it remained thenceforth in Ottoman hands until lost in the aftermath of
World War I.