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  Selected Secret Documents from Soviet Foreign Policy Documents Archives - 1919 to 1941

Concentrated on 1st and  2nd WW Correspondence and Meetings related to Turkey, Balkans and Iran, with some additions from Afghanistan and India.

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From letter interim attorney of the USSR in Iran A. Kartashev to the peopleʹs commissioner for foreign affairs of the USSR m. M. Litvinov

January 21, 1939 secret

........

It is understandable, therefore, that among the broad masses, as well as in merchant circles, they are expectantly awaiting a new treaty with the USSR. At the bazaars in Tehran and Tabriz, fantastic rumors are systematically spread: that the shah, having received a telegram from the Turkish president with advice to restore good relations with the Soviets, sent a delegation to us, that the treaty has already been signed in Tehran, etc., etc. ..

........

From letter of the interim attorney of the USSR in Iran I. A. Kartashev to the peopleʹs commissioner for foreign affairs of the USSR m. M. Litvinov

February 15, 1939 secret

It seems that this thesis was suggested to the Iranians from the outside. I even believe that our Turkish friends could also give the Iranians such advice. I have heard more than once from the Turkish ambassador Akaigen that in conversations with the Iranians he urges them not to weaken, but to strengthen their friendship with their great neighbor and points them to the example of Turkey, which allegedly managed to maintain the best relations with the USSR, while at the same time eradicating communism inside.

Summarizing the above, the following conclusion should be drawn.

The shah, who played such a major role in the specific conditions of the historical development of Iran, by now seemed to have exhausted itself and pulled the country back towards reaction. The current policy of the Iranian government is weakening the results of the reformist activities of the past few years.

The shah is concentrating more and more all power in his hands, and his appetite for power is constantly growing and his fears and anger against all manifestations of personal or social initiative, which can, in parallel with him, that is, the shahʹs power, influence the course of state life, grow proportionally ...

Shah is still 61 years old, and he tenaciously holds on to life. At military parades, he is still able to gallop on horseback. They say that he kept his health and does not suffer from diseases. But he is in great fear for the fate of his dynasty. And itʹs understandable. Until now, the country has not created or organized social factors that would ensure the consolidation of this dynasty. The strong‐willed, ruthless and despotic figure of the shah firmly gripped the police, the army, and the main support of power in his hands. The father would like his personal influence and power to pass to his son, and in order to strengthen his dynastic root, the shah increasingly strengthens the elements of police and military dictatorship, opposed to progressive social influences.

We will watch where it leads.

[temporary] charge dʹaffaires of the USSR in Iran

I. Kartashev

Avp rf, f. Oh, on 4, p 28, d 86, l 40‐43