The first Mohammed Ali crisis of the early 1830s significantly influenced the situation within the Ottoman Empire as will as the relations among the European Powers. The goal of this paper is to analyze the diplomacy of the Austrian Chancellor Metternich in the Levant during this important affair and thus to reveal how Austria´s vast economic interests in this refion, and particularly in Egypt, determined the decision-making process of the cabinet in Vienna. At that time the extent of Austrian trade with Egypt exceeded that of other European countries and prevented Austria´s active involvement in the conflict. The arguments of the paper are based upon a research of the archival materials housed in Vienna, Berlin, London and Paris.