USSR and Problem of German Influence in Iran in Second Half of 1930s (Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation)

Abstract

The issues of the Soviet-German confrontation in Iran in the second half of the 30s are considered. The relevance of the study is due to the exacerbation in the last decades of the scientific dispute about the reasons for the occupation of Iran during the Second World War by the Soviet Union and Great Britain. The novelty of the research is associated with the introduction into scientific circulation of archival sources on the topic previously inaccessible to researchers, allowing them to more deeply explore the issues raised. The author proves that Hitler’s Germany on the eve of World War II strongly pressed the USSR, Great Britain and other European countries in the economy, politics and information and propaganda spheres of Iran. According to the results of the study, it is concluded that the loss of positions in Iran by Moscow and London caused the Soviet Union and Great Britain to strive for revenge and became the leading motive for the introduction of troops and the occupation of Iran in 1941, after the German attack on the USSR. It is argued that the occupation of the northern part of Iran for the Soviet Union was primarily a situation of restoring previously lost positions, which made it possible to build and try to implement new geopolitical plans.