The Iran crisis of 1946, also known as the Iran-Azerbaijan Crisis, followed the end of the Second World War and stemmed from the Soviet Union's refusal to relinquish occupied Iranian territory, despite repeated assurances. In 1941 Iran had been jointly invaded and occupied by the Red Army in the north and by the British in the center and south; Iran was used as a transportation route to provide vital supplies to the Soviet allies during the War. Intense diplomatic pressure on the Soviets, as well as support for Iran, were applied by the United States to gain Soviet withdrawal and limit its influence. The crisis is seen as one of the early conflicts in the growing Cold War at the time.
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Background
Iranian territory had long been coveted by both Britain and Russia for its lines of communication and transport, as well as its warm water ports, and later, its large petroleum reserves. Upon taking power in the early 1920s, the nationalist Reza Shah worked to balance these influences with other foreign powers, generally worked to diminish foreign influence, and to modernize the country. To counterbalance British and Soviet influence, Reza Shah encouraged German commercial enterprise in Iran; by the start of World War II, Germany was Iran's largest trading partner,[1] although it remained officially neutral.
Occupation
After Germany broke with the Soviets and invaded the USSR in June 1941 however, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union jointly occupied Iran as a preventative measure, starting on 25 August 1941, and justified their invasion by the need to use Iran as a gateway for delivery of Lend-Lease supplies to the Soviet Union.[2] As a result, Reza Shah was forced to abdicate and exiled to Mauritius; his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the crown prince became the new monarch. Their joint ‘Tripartite Treaty’ of January 1942 declared that their military presence was not an occupation, proclaimed Iran to be their ally, and pledged to withdraw their troops within six months after the end of the war.[2] Throughout the rest of the war, the United Kingdom and the United States used Iran as an important supply line to the Soviet war effort against Nazi Germany. Thirty thousand noncombatant US troops arrived to move these supplies, and transit through Iran was later termed a "bridge to victory". At the Teheran Conference in 1943, the Big Three gave additional assurances concerning Iran’s future sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as a promise to assist in its post-war reconstruction and development.[2]
Reluctance to withdraw
Although the occupation of Iran was scheduled to end after the war, at the Potsdam Conference, following Germany’s surrender, President Truman became aware of possible complications, when Stalin objected to Churchill’s proposal for an early allied withdrawal from Iran, ahead of the agreed upon schedule set at the Teheran Conference.[3] Following VJ Day in September 1945, first the US and then the UK withdrew their forces within the treaty-stipulated period. The Soviets not only violated the March 2 withdrawal deadline, in that time they had expanded their military presence southward. By mid-December 1945, with the use of troops and secret police, they had set up two pro-Soviet "People's Democratic Republics" within Iranian territory,[2] the Azerbaijan People's Republic headed by Sayyid Jafar Pishevari and the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad under President Pesheva Qazi Muhammad.
Diplomatic pressure and support
The United States exerted intense pressure on the Soviet Union in stages to force the withdrawal of the Red Army from Iran and reduce Soviet influence. Following an official US protest, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2, on 30 January 1946; the Soviets replied on March 24, 1946 and pledged immediate withdrawal, but in fact remained for a few more weeks. In a second stage through the spring, the US supported the Iranian complaint against Soviet actions lodged with the Security Council in Resolution 3 and Resolution 5. In a third stage in mid December 1946, the US supported the shah’s government to send the Iranian army to re-occupied Mahabad and Azerbaijan.[2] The leaders of the Azerbaijan enclave in Iran fled to the Azerbaijan SSR, and the leaders of the Kurdish Republic were tried and sentenced to death. They were hanged in Chwarchira Square in the center of Mahabad in 1947. A fourth stage was initiated in 1947 and centered on the issue of Soviet designs on Iran's northern oil resources. Following the election that year of a new Majlis, the newly elected deputies were reluctant to ratify the Soviet-Iranian oil agreement, which had been concluded under duress in March 1946 and had granted the Soviets 51% ownership and de facto control. On September 11, 1947, US ambassador George V. Allen publicly decried intimidation and coercion used by foreign governments to secure commercial concessions in Iran, and promised full US support for Iran to freely decide about its own natural resources. With this unequivocal encouragement, the Majlis refused to ratify the Soviet oil agreement on October 22, 1947; the vote was 102 to 2.[2]
Cold War
This conflict was one of the first episodes of the Cold War outside Europe, and was a factor in the evolving and increasingly contentious political relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, which followed their joint victory in World War II. According to Lenczowski, Truman's actions laid the foundations of US relations with Iran, and were based on his understanding of the nature of the Soviet system and its expansionist proclivities, as well as on his conviction that Soviet threats and aggression should be contained, with force if necessary.[2] Soviet influence and expansion occurred elsewhere in Southwest Asia also and led to the Truman Doctrine of the Cold War. Taking Truman's cue, successive US presidents enlarged and refined their policies toward Iran by extending economic and technical assistance, strengthening its military potential, establishing closer cultural ties, and integrating Iran into the regional security system encompassing the other countries of the 'Northern Tier' of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf.[2]
See also
- Persian Socialist Soviet Republic
- Republic of Mahabad
- Azerbaijan People's Republic
- Truman Doctrine
- Central Treaty Organization
References
- André Fontaine, La guerre froide 1917-1991, Editions de la Martinière, 2004, ISBN 2-84675-139-0 (French)
- George Lenczowski, "The Communist Movement in Iran", Middle East Journal, no. 1 (January 1947) pp. 29–45
- Archie Roosevelt, Jr., "The Kurdish Republic of Mahabad", Middle East Journal, no. 1 (July 1947), pp. 247–69
- William Linn Westermann: "Kurdish Independence and Russian Expansion", Foreign Affairs, Vol. 24, 1945–1946, pp. 675–686
- George Lenczowski, Russia and the West in Iran (1949)
Notes
- ^ Parstimes
- ^ a b c d e f g h George Lenczowski, American Presidents and the Middle East, (1990), p. 7-13
- ^ Harry S. Truman, Memoirs, Vol. 1: Years of Decision (1955), p.380, cited in Lenczowski, American Presidents, p.10