Soviet Russia and the Middle East

Report Outline
Renewal of Old Rivairiew in Middle East
Relations of Iran with Big Three Powers
Russia, Turkey and the Dardanelles

Renewal of Old Rivairiew in Middle East

Russia and Scheduled Removal of Troops from Iran

Soviet and british troops are scheduled, under existing agreements, to be withdrawn from Iran by Mar. 2, 1946. The Anglo-Soviet-Iranian treaty of 1942, which authorized stationing of the foreign troops in Iran, called for their withdrawal six months after the end of the war. By an exchange of letters last September, the Soviet Union and Great Britain agreed that the six-month period should run from V-J Day, Sept. 2, 1945.

A Soviet statement submitted to the United Nations Security Council, Jan. 25, recalled that Russia had the right to send troops into Iran under a 1921 treaty as well as under the tripartite treaty of 1942. But the Iranian delegation at London pointed out that the 1921 treaty accorded that right only in case Iran was being made a base of aggression against Russia by a third power. It will therefore be difficult for the Soviet Union to justify retention of forces in any part of Iran after Mar. 2, even if negotiations for settlement of her current controversy with that country have not been concluded by that date.

Action of United Nations on Soviet-Iranian Dispute

Plans to restrict the first meeting of the General Assembly and Security Council of the United Nations largely to organizational matters were upset, Jan. 19, when Iran called on the U. N. O. to inquire into “interference of the Soviet Union …in the internal affairs” of that country. The Soviet Union promptly countered Iran's move by asking the U. N. O. to investigate the maintenance of British troops in Greece and Indonesia. The stage was thus set for what many feared might be such a display of discord between two of the great powers as to shake the faith of small nations in the new world organization at the very outset of its existence.