During World War II, a joint Anglo-Soviet operation was carried out to bring Soviet and British troops into Iran under the code name Operation Countenance.

The purpose of the operation was to ensure guaranteed security southern route deliveries of the USSR under lend-lease, taking control of Iranian oil fields in order to prevent their capture by Germany, as well as excluding the possibility of Iran acting on the side of the countries of the Nazi Axis. In addition, the entry of troops into Iranian territory was supposed to fend off a possible aggression from Turkey, creating a flank threat for Turkish troops.

German influence in Iran was enormous. Nazi Germany took part in the modernization of the Iranian economy and infrastructure, the reform of the Shah's army. The Germans firmly infiltrated the Iranian economy, and built relations with it in such a way that Iran practically became a hostage of Germany and subsidized its ever-increasing military spending. The volume of imports to Iran increased rapidly German weapons.

With the outbreak of World War II and the German attack on the USSR, despite the formal declaration of neutrality by Iran, the activity of German intelligence services. With encouragement from the pro-German government led by Shah Reza Pahlavi, Iran became the main base for German agents in the Middle East. Reconnaissance and sabotage groups were created on the territory of the country, weapons depots were arranged, including in the border areas with the Soviet Union. northern regions Iran.

After the German attack on the Soviet Union, Moscow and London became allies. Negotiations began on joint action in Iran to prevent the Germans from invading that country. They were led by the British Ambassador Stafford Cripps in meetings with Molotov and Stalin. On July 8, 1941, the Directive of the NKVD of the USSR and the NKGB of the USSR "On measures to prevent the transfer of agents from the territory of Iran" was issued. German intelligence", she de facto was a signal to prepare for the Iranian operation.

The USSR three times - on June 26, July 19 and August 16, 1941 warned the Iranian leadership about the activation of German agents in the country and offered to expel all German subjects from the country (among them there were many hundreds of military specialists), since they were carrying out activities incompatible with Iranian neutrality. Tehran rejected this demand. He refused the same demand to the British.
August 25, 1941 at 4:30 in the morning soviet ambassador and the British envoy jointly visited the Shah and presented him with notes from their governments on the entry of Soviet and British troops into Iran.

Legally, the Soviet Union had the right to send troops into the territory southern neighbor, this was provided for by the terms of the Treaty between the USSR and Persia (since 1935 - Iran) of February 26, 1921. The sixth article of the treaty stated that Russia could send its troops to Iran if "third countries try to carry out an aggressive policy on the territory of Persia by armed intervention or turn the territory of Persia into a base for military actions against Russia."

The operation of bringing troops into the territory of Iran began at dawn on August 25, 1941. Maneuvering groups Soviet border guards crossed the border, cut communication lines, took control of the roads and other communications of the Iranians. At the same time, he was thrown into the rear airborne assault with the aim of capturing bridges, passes, railway crossings.

Parts of the Red Army were brought into the northern provinces of Iran, British troops into the southern and southwestern ones. Within three days, from 29 to 31 August, both groups reached a predetermined line, where they joined.

FROM Soviet side General command of the operation was carried out by Lieutenant General Dmitry Kozlov, commander of the Transcaucasian Front, which included the deployment of the 44th, 45th, 46th and 47th combined arms armies. The 53rd Combined Arms Army under the command of Major General Sergei Trofimenko, formed in the Central Asian Military District in July 1941, also participated in the operation. The planning of the operation was carried out under the leadership of the Chief of Staff of the Transcaucasian Military District, Major General Fyodor Tolbukhin.

From the British side, three divisions, two brigades and separate regiment. The Iranian forces were much inferior to the allies - Tehran was able to oppose the Soviet and British troops with only five divisions.

Despite the superiority in the forces of the allies, the operation was not bloodless - in the first days there were battles with Iranian troops, but not too fierce.

Shortly after the start of Operation Accord, there was a change in the cabinet of ministers of the Iranian government. The new Iranian Prime Minister Ali-Forughi gave the order to end the resistance, and the next day this order was approved by the Iranian Majlis (parliament). On August 29, 1941, the Iranian army laid down its arms in front of the British, and on August 30 in front of the Red Army.

The total losses that the Allies suffered during the invasion were relatively small: the Red Army lost 40 people killed, material losses- 3 aircraft. The British lost 22 people killed, 50 soldiers were wounded, 1 tank was knocked out. Iranian losses amounted to 800 people killed, more than 200 wounded, 6 tanks and 6 aircraft.

On September 8, an agreement was signed that determined the zones of occupation between the USSR and Great Britain. The Iranian government undertook to expel from the country all citizens of Germany and other countries allies of Berlin, to maintain strict neutrality and not interfere with the military transit of countries Anti-Hitler coalition.

The agreement entered into force the next day. Shah Reza Pahlavi, who refused to approve the Allied invasion, was forced to abdicate. In 1942, his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, became shah (with the consent of both the USSR and Great Britain). The former ruler left Iran. In 1944 he died in Johannesburg (South Africa).

The allies divided the roles: the USSR controlled the northern part of Iran, the Caspian ports and the Iranian-Turkish border, Great Britain controlled the southern part, the ports of southern Iran and the oil fields.

In October 1941, part of the USSR troops was withdrawn from Iran: all aviation, and then parts of the 44th and 47th armies.

On January 29, 1942, the Treaty of Union between the USSR, Great Britain and Iran was signed. The allies pledged to "respect the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Iran." The USSR and Britain also pledged "to defend Iran with all the means at their disposal against any aggression on the part of Germany or any other power." The treaty established that the troops of the USSR and England should be withdrawn from the territory of Iran no later than six months after the cessation of hostilities between allied states and Germany with its accomplices.

The neutrality of Iran, ensured by the operation "Consent", had a significant impact on the course of the Second World War. The oil fields of Iran and southern Iraq played a significant role in supplying the Allied forces with fuel, and the Lend-Lease route passing from the Iraqi port of Basra through Iran to the north became the main route through which the USSR received aid from the Allies during the war years. In 1943, in the capital of Iran, Tehran, one of the main allied conferences was held - a meeting of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, during which they adopted major decisions that determined the course of the war at its final stage.

During the occupation, the Allies assisted Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi in ​​organizing new army. In particular, by the decision of the State Defense Committee of the USSR, Yak-7 fighters and Il-2 attack aircraft were transferred to Iran, and the corresponding specialists were trained.

The occupation of Iran lasted until 1946, and its completion was one of the first pages " cold war"- Fearing possible provocations from yesterday's allies in World War II, the USSR was in no hurry to withdraw its troops, which led to a long diplomatic confrontation.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Long before 1941, it became obvious that the Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi (reigned 1925-1941), was guided in his policy more by Germany than by its opponents: all-round ties were actively developing with Germany, thousands of German specialists were constantly in Iran, including including the military. However, until June 22, 1941, all this threatened only the interests of Great Britain, which controlled Iraq and the current "oil monarchies" of the Persian Gulf, but after the German attack on the USSR, there was also a threat of the emergence of another front in the "underbelly" of the Soviet Union - in Transcaucasia and Central Asia , where even the war with the Basmachi has not yet finally ended. Under these conditions, the USSR and Great Britain agreed on the joint occupation of Iran.

Red Army soldiers in Iran, from a blog, 1941

At first, the Shah was approached "for good" with a request to accommodate Soviet and British troops in Iran, but he refused, despite clauses 5 and 6 of the 1921 agreement between Soviet Russia and Iran in force at that time, which stipulated that in the event of a threat to their southern borders Soviet Russia(and then the USSR) has the right to send troops to the territory of Iran.

After the Shah's refusal, it was decided to launch a joint Soviet-British operation called "Consent" against Iran. It began on August 25, 1941 - the Soviet troops moved southeast mainly from Azerbaijan, and the British began by attacking Iranian ships on the coast of the Persian Gulf. Iranian troops offered little resistance: 40 Soviet and 22 British soldiers were killed during the fighting. By September 17, 1941, the Allies occupied the entire territory of the country: the USSR controlled the territories north of Tehran, the British - to the south. The joint occupation led to the fact that the allies in the Anti-Hitler coalition provided a secure rear in the Middle East, Hitler did not get Iranian oil, and the territory of Iran became one of the important corridors for the delivery of weapons and other military materials to the USSR under Lend-Lease. The pro-German Shah Reza Pahlavi abdicated and was replaced by a new, then young Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was destined to be the last Shah of Iran and lose power in 1979. Since 1943, the Americans have joined the British in the occupation of Iran. Therefore, in 1943, in Tehran, as the capital of a country controlled by all the main countries of the Anti-Hitler coalition, the first meeting of their leaders during the years of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, took place.

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T-26 tanks and BA-10 armored cars in Iran, from a blog, 1941 Soviet and british soldier, Kavzin, from the blog

The war between the USSR and Iran against the backdrop of the bloody and dramatic events of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War went almost unnoticed. However, in recent times the theme of the Soviet-Iranian war has gained some popularity in Western media mass media. Apparently in the background bloody events in Islamic countries caused by the "Arab Spring" inspired by the Western intelligence services, the ongoing occupation of Iraq and the passionate desire to occupy Iran - an attempt is being made to prepare public opinion. In addition, there is a noticeable desire to shift responsibility from the “sore head” Western countries"to healthy" Russian.

What happened in Iran in late summer - early autumn 1941, what is the background and causes of these events? Within the " big game»-politics of the struggle for influence in the Transcaucasus and Central Asia between Russia and Great Britain, both sides tried in every possible way to achieve best position in Persia. The fight was with mixed success, and in general, historically, the UK has acquired greater influence in the south, and Russia - in the north of the country. Russia's influence there was very great. In 1879, the Persian Cossack brigade was even created, later transformed into a division. It was the most combat-ready unit of the whole Persian army. Trained "Cossacks" and commanded units Russian officers receiving a salary from Russia. In addition, the Russian Empire and its citizens invested heavily in various infrastructure projects in Persia.
The revolution of 1917 brought significant changes to the current position. Russian instructors in the Cossack division were replaced by the British. Leaders revolutionary Russia expected a general world revolution, so the preservation of Russian property abroad was little cared for. As a result, in 1921, an agreement was signed between Russia and Persia, according to which most of Russian property in the country went to the Persians. But at the same time, it was possible to introduce Soviet troops to Iran if necessary. In 1925, the general of the Persian Cossack division, Reza Shah, who had risen from the rank and file, organized a coup in the country and led it, creating new dynasty Pahlavi. Serving under the command of the Russians and the British, Pahlavi chose completely different countries as a model. The general's heart was given to fascism. At first he bowed to Mussolini, and later to Hitler. The youth of Iran went en masse to study in Germany. In the country, by order, a scout movement was created on the model of the Hitler Youth. German specialists in all fields came to Iran en masse. All this led to the fact that the country was literally teeming with fascist agents. Naturally, this state of affairs could not suit Stalin. And after the German attack on the USSR, it became unbearable. Oil industry could come under German control, serious dangers were created for lend-lease supplies going through the ports of the Persian Gulf. Through Iran, a blow could have been delivered by Turkey, friendly to Hitler. And Iran itself has mobilized a 200,000-strong army.
This led to the fact that the USSR and Britain conducted a joint operation to occupy the country. The operation was codenamed "Consent". The USSR and Great Britain turned to Pahlavi with a request to expel German citizens from Iran and deploy their troops in the country. Reza Shah refused. Then, relying on the provisions of the 1921 treaty, the troops of the USSR and Great Britain entered the country. In planning the Soviet part of the operation, he took Active participation General Tolbukhin. August 25, 1941, under general guidance General Kozlov, Soviet troops as part of five combined arms armies, with the support of the Caspian flotilla attached to them, entered Iran.
Iranian army offered virtually no resistance. All four regiments of Iranian aviation were destroyed at the very beginning of the war, so the Allied aviation that dominated the sky was mainly engaged in scattering propaganda leaflets. The only ones who offered real resistance were the Iranian police, but the forces were clearly not equal. As a result, Pahlavi was forced to change the government, and new minister defense of Ali-Forugi gave the order to end the resistance, which was immediately approved by Parliament. Already on August 29, the Iranian army capitulated to the British, and on August 30 to the Red Army.
Allied losses amounted to just over a hundred people. Iran was divided into occupation zones, all of it railways and industry were brought under tight control. In 1942, Reza Shah Pahlavi abdicated in favor of his son Mohammed and left the country. He ended his life in racist South Africa.
Formally, after these events, the sovereignty of the country was restored, but the occupying troops remained on its territory. In 1943, Iran declared war on Germany. It was the tight control of the USSR and Great Britain over the formally friendly regime that made it possible to hold the famous Tehran conference in 1943.
Interestingly, even in oral folk art Iranians do not find any mention not only of the atrocities of the times of occupation, but also of a simple inconvenience from it. Soviet troops left Iran in 1946, the USSR retained oil concessions in the north of the country. British troops stayed longer, providing for the interests of Britain's oil corporations.

There are still many pages in the history of the Second World War, which, in contrast to Battle of Stalingrad or the Allied landings in Normandy are little known to the general public. These include the joint Anglo-Soviet operation to occupy Iran, codenamed Operation Sympathy.

It was carried out from August 25 to September 17, 1941. Its purpose was to protect Iranian oil fields and fields from their possible capture by German troops and their allies, as well as to protect the transport corridor (southern corridor), along which the allies carried out Lend-Lease supplies for Soviet Union. In addition, Great Britain feared for its positions in southern Iran, especially for the oil fields of the Anglo-Iranian oil company, and was concerned that Germany would be able to penetrate through Iran into India and other Asian countries that were in the British sphere of influence.

Needless to say, it was one of the few successful operations Red Army against the backdrop of the dramatic events of the summer of 1941 on Soviet-German front. For its implementation, three combined arms armies were involved (44th, under the command of Major General A. A. Khadeev, 47th, under the command of Major General V. V. Novikov and the 53rd separate Central Asian Army, under the command of General - Lieutenant S. G. Trofimenko) significant aviation and Caspian flotilla forces.

It should be noted that it was this operation that became the first joint military action of countries that, due to changing geopolitical conditions, switched from years of confrontation to cooperation and became allies in the war with Germany. And the development and implementation of the Soviet and English parties joint operation to send troops to Iran, the implementation of a coordinated policy in the region, became the actual basis for closer cooperation in the future, when parts of the American army were also introduced into Iran.
The allies, whose interests did not coincide in everything, at that moment were striving for one thing: to prevent, firstly, the threat, and a very real one, of a pro-German military coup in Iran and a breakthrough of the Wehrmacht forces there; secondly, it is guaranteed to ensure the transit of weapons, ammunition, food, medicines, strategic raw materials, fuel and other lend-lease cargoes necessary for the USSR for war and victory through Iranian territory, and, thirdly, to ensure that the neutrality initially declared by Iran gradually transformed into large-scale cooperation and transition to the side of the anti-Hitler coalition.

It must be said that the influence of Germany in Iran was enormous. With the transformation Weimar Republic in the Third Reich, relations with Iran reached a qualitatively different level. Germany began to take part in the modernization of the Iranian economy and infrastructure, the reform of the Shah's army. In Germany, Iranian students and officers were trained, whom Goebbels' propaganda called nothing less than "sons of Zoroaster." The Persians were declared pure-blooded Aryans and exempted from the Nuremberg racial laws by a special decree.
In the total trade turnover of Iran in 1940-1941, Germany accounted for 45.5 percent, the USSR - 11 percent and Britain - 4 percent. Germany firmly infiltrated the Iranian economy, and built relations with it in such a way that Iran practically became a hostage of the Germans and subsidized their ever-increasing military spending.

The volume of German weapons imported into Iran grew rapidly. Over eight months of 1941, more than 11,000 tons of weapons and ammunition were imported there, including thousands of machine guns and dozens of artillery pieces.

With the outbreak of World War II and the German attack on the USSR, despite the formal declaration of neutrality by Iran, the activities of German intelligence services intensified in the country. With encouragement from the pro-German government led by Reza Shah, Iran became the main base for German agents in the Middle East. Reconnaissance and sabotage groups were created on the territory of the country, weapons depots were set up, including in the northern regions of Iran bordering the Soviet Union.
In an attempt to draw Iran into the war against the USSR, Germany offered Reza Shah weapons and financial assistance. And in return, she demanded that her “ally” transfer Iranian air bases to her disposal, for the construction of which German specialists have had direct relation. In the event of an aggravation of relations with the ruling regime in Iran, he prepared coup d'état. To this end, in early August 1941, the head of German intelligence, Admiral Canaris, arrived in Tehran under the guise of a representative of a German company. By this time, under the leadership of an Abwehr officer, Major Friesch, special combat units of the Germans living in Iran. Together with a group of Iranian officers involved in the plot, they were to form the main strike force of the rebels. The speech was scheduled for August 22, 1941, and then postponed to August 28.
Naturally, neither the USSR nor Great Britain could ignore such a development of events.

The USSR three times - on June 26, July 19 and August 16, 1941 warned the Iranian leadership about the activation of German agents in the country and offered to expel all German subjects from the country (among them there were many hundreds of military specialists), since they were carrying out activities incompatible with Iranian neutrality . Tehran rejected this demand.
He refused the same demand to the British. Meanwhile, the Germans in Iran developed their activity, and the situation became more and more threatening for the anti-Hitler coalition every day.
On the morning of August 25 at 4:30 a.m., the Soviet ambassador and the British envoy jointly visited the Shah and presented him with notes from their governments on the entry of Soviet and British troops into Iran.
Units of the Red Army were introduced into the northern provinces of Iran. In the southern and southwestern - British troops. Within three days, from 29 to 31 August, both groups reached a predetermined line, where they joined.

It must be said that the Soviet Union had every legal basis to react decisively to such a development of events in its own country. southern border in accordance with Article VI of the Treaty between the USSR and Persia of February 26, 1921. She said:

“Both High Contracting Parties agree that in the event that third countries attempt to carry out an occupation policy on the territory of Persia by means of armed intervention or to turn the territory of Persia into a base for military actions against Russia, if this threatens the borders of the Russian Federal Socialist Republic or its allied powers, and if the Persian Government, after a warning from the Russian Soviet Government, does not itself find itself in the power to avert this danger, the Russian Soviet Government will have the right to send his troops into the territory of Persia in order to take the necessary military measures in the interests of self-defense. Upon elimination of this danger, the Russian Soviet Government undertakes to immediately withdraw its troops from the borders of Persia.

Shortly after the start of the entry of allied troops into Iran, there was a change in the cabinet of ministers of the Iranian government. The new Iranian Prime Minister Ali-Forughi gave the order to end the resistance, and the next day this order was approved by the Iranian Majlis (parliament). On August 29, 1941, the Iranian army laid down its arms in front of the British, and on August 30 - in front of the Red Army.

On September 18, 1941, Soviet troops entered Tehran. The ruler of Iran, Reza Shah, had abdicated a few hours earlier in favor of his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, and, together with another son, a staunch supporter of Hitler, fled to the British zone of responsibility. The Shah was sent first to the island of Mauritius, and then to Johannesburg, where he died three years later.
After the abdication and departure of Reza Shah, his eldest son Mohammed Reza was elevated to the throne. Official representatives of Germany and its allies, as well as most of their agents, were interned and expelled.

Photos of the Soviet-British invasion of Iran:

On January 29, 1942, the Treaty of Union between the USSR, Great Britain and Iran was signed. The allies pledged to "respect the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Iran". The USSR and England also pledged to "defend Iran with all the means at their disposal against any aggression on the part of Germany or any other power." For this task, the USSR and England received the right "to maintain on Iranian territory land, sea and air force as much as they deem necessary." In addition, the allied states were granted an unlimited right to use, maintain, protect, and in the event of military necessity control over all means of communication throughout Iran, including railways, highways and dirt roads, rivers, airfields, ports, etc. Within the framework of this agreement, deliveries of allied military-technical cargo from the ports of the Persian Gulf to the Soviet Union began to be carried out through Iran.

Iran, in turn, committed itself to "cooperate with allied states by all means available to it and by all possible ways so that they can fulfill the above obligations.”

The treaty established that the troops of the USSR and England should be withdrawn from the territory of Iran no later than six months after the cessation of hostilities between the allied states and Germany with its accomplices. (In 1946, the troops were completely withdrawn). The Allied Powers assured Iran that they would not require its participation armed forces in hostilities, and pledged at peace conferences not to approve anything that would prejudice the territorial integrity, sovereignty or political independence of Iran. The presence of allied troops in Iran, the neutralization of German agents (*), the establishment of control over the main communications in the country have significantly changed military and political situation on the Soviet southern borders. The threat was removed to the most important oil region - Baku, which produced about three-quarters of all oil produced in the USSR. In addition, the military presence of the allies had a deterrent effect on Turkey. And the Soviet command got the opportunity to withdraw part of the forces from the southern borders and use them on the Soviet-German front. All this testified to the effectiveness of the cooperation of the great powers, united in the struggle against fascist aggression.

The fact that, in fact, in Soviet-British relations regarding the occupation of Iran, not everything was smooth, read in our

In the late 1930s, Germany took Iran under its wing. German art schools, the Germans were invited to lead the departments educational institutions, studied in schools German. Iranian students were welcome guests of German educational institutions. Iran, however, itself was not opposed - last years he actively followed the path of "Westernization".

In the relatively recent past, the state experienced a series of defeats in wars with Russian Empire, having lost the territories of modern Azerbaijan and Armenia, and a few decades later it was completely occupied by British troops. Iran gained independence only in 1921, with the coming to power of Reza Pahlavi. The new shah acted resolutely judicial reform, accepted Civil Code and abolished the capitulation regime, prevented the violent seizure of land and allowed Iranian women to refuse to wear the veil, enshrining this right in a separate decree.

Reza Pahlavi was generally one of those people who go to their goal literally over their heads. He received the title of shah by overthrowing the previous ruler, Ahmad Qajar, who a few years earlier had himself appointed him first as military governor and commander in chief, and then as minister of war. And it was under Pahlavi that Iran became Iran - before that, as you know, it was called Persia for many centuries.

There is a widespread version that the Germans persuaded the renaming of the Shah's state, because the name "Iran" comes from the Avestan Airyāna - the country of the Aryans.

Valentin Berezhkov, Stalin's personal translator, wrote: “At that time, the Iranian capital was teeming with refugees from war-torn Europe ... Among the mass of refugees there were many Nazi agents. Extensive opportunities for them in Iran were created not only peculiar conditions of this country, but also by the patronage that in recent years the old Reza Shah, who openly sympathized with Hitler, provided the Germans. The government of Reza Shah created a very favorable environment, which Hitler's intelligence took full advantage of by planting its residents in Iran. When, after the start of the war, a wave of refugees poured into Iran, the Gestapo took advantage of this to strengthen its agents in this country, which was playing important role as a transshipment point for Anglo-American supplies to the Soviet Union."

Iran violates the treaty

This state of affairs was not only unprofitable, but dangerous for both the USSR and Great Britain. Firstly, Hitler's coalition could in this situation easily capture the British-Iranian oil fields. Secondly, to block the trans-Iranian route, along which during the Second World War goods were delivered from the UK and the USA to the USSR.

Three times the USSR demanded from Pahlavi to expel the Germans from Iran and was refused three times. He demanded, by the way, on completely legal grounds - in 1921, a friendship treaty was concluded between the USSR and Iran, one of the articles of which read:

“Both High Contracting Parties agree that in the event that third countries attempt to carry out an occupation policy on the territory of Persia by means of armed intervention or to turn the territory of Persia into a base for military actions against Russia, if this threatens the borders of the Russian the Federal Socialist Republic or its allied powers, and if the Persian Government, after a warning from the Russian Soviet Government, does not itself prove to be strong enough to avert this danger, the Russian Soviet Government will have the right to send its troops into the territory of Persia in order to take the necessary military measures in the interests of self-defence. Upon elimination of this danger, the Russian Soviet Government undertakes to immediately withdraw its troops from the borders of Persia.

It was this agreement that gave green light to send troops.

In 1941, after the German attack on the USSR, Stalin and Molotov discussed with British Ambassador Cripps the possibility of jointly countering the German invasion of Iran. As a result, the Directive of the NKVD of the USSR and the NKGB of the USSR No. 250/14190 "On measures to prevent the transfer of German intelligence agents from the territory of Iran" was issued, which became Starting point preparing for a military operation.

Surrendered almost without a fight

From the side of the USSR advancing from the north, four armies participated, consisting of many mountain rifle, mountain cavalry, fighter aviation, cavalry, tank regiments, battalions and divisions, field hospital, medical battalion and a couple of bakeries. UK on southern fronts helped as best she could, sending several divisions and brigades with the support of the fleet. On the part of the USSR, the operation was led by Lieutenant General Dmitry Kozlov, who later led the more famous and seriously defeated Kerch landing operation resulting in more than 300,000 deaths. Soviet soldiers and more than 170 thousand were in German captivity.

However, it is unlikely that anything could go wrong in the Iranian operation. Iran countered the entire combined power of the Soviet and British troops with only nine divisions and 60 aircraft. Iranian aviation was destroyed in the first few days. Two divisions voluntarily laid down their arms. The enemy troops did not put up much resistance and surrendered city after city without a fight. Part retreated to Tehran, preparing to defend the capital to the end.

At the same time, he took over as prime minister. statesman Mohammed Ali Forugi, removed from his position a few years earlier because his son-in-law's father was suspected of participating in a rebellion against the Pahlavi reforms. FROM light hand The new prime minister was given an order to end the resistance, almost immediately approved by the local parliament.

The casualty rate was low - 64 British killed and wounded, about 50 dead and about a thousand wounded Soviet soldiers, and about a thousand dead Iranians.

On September 8, 1941, the parties to the conflict signed an agreement that determined the location of Soviet and British troops in Iran. The British occupied the oil fields in the south, the USSR occupied the north. Reza Pahlavi abdicated, handing over the reins of government (very conditional, given that the territory of the state was under the control of Soviet and British troops) to his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Mohammed was the last Iranian Shah- He was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and a year later he died of lymphoma.

After the war, the Allied Powers had to withdraw troops from Iran. The USSR maintained a presence there until May 1946, on the territory controlled by it, until the withdrawal of troops, there were unrecognized state formations -

Kurdish Mahabad Republic and South Azerbaijan.

Strube/The Daily Express Cartoon in the British newspaper The Daily Express, August 28, 1941

"We want compensation"

Of course, Iran did not receive any benefit from the occupation. Historian and political scientist Alexander Orishev wrote in the book “In August 1941”: “The end of the 20th century. Iran met with deep faith in the values ​​of Islamic rule, with the hope of further prosperity and economic growth. And few people now remember that even at the beginning of the last century, everything here looked different. Iran was a country of depressing poverty, representing a typical semi-colonial state, in some respects even more backward than Ottoman Empire. Its economy was in decline: there were practically no factories and convenient ways communications, electricity was available only in major cities. Most Iranians were illiterate, poverty and underdevelopment medical care contributed to the high mortality rate.

Iran is still somewhat offended by the USSR for the occupation. In 2010, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: "You have inflicted huge damage Iranians, placing on their shoulders heavy burden, and became victors in World War II. You didn't even share anything after the war. If I say today that we want full compensation, know that we will go all the way and get it.” However, in 2013 he was replaced by Hassan Rouhani. This president has not put forward such demands yet.