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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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Recording of the conversation of the peopleʹs commissioner of foreign affairs of the USSR V. M. Molotov with the ambassador of Great Britain in the USSR, Scripps

July 20, 1941 secret

Cripps handed comrade Molotov a memo on the stay of the Germans in Afghanistan and Iran. The text of the memorandum is attached 11.

After reviewing the contents of the note, comrade Molotov announced that he would bring the contents of the document to the notice of the Soviet government. Comrade Molotov promised to inform Cripps about the decisions to be taken in connection with the discussion of the memorandum.

Referring to the deMarches undertaken by the Soviet and British representatives in Iran, comrade Molotov noted that these deMarches did not yield positive results. It turned out that the Iranians are not inclined to meet half‐way on the issue of the stay of the Germans in their country. As for Turkeyʹs position, said comrade Molotov, the Soviet government considers it very important to consider this question. The Soviet government considers it desirable that Turkey should create difficulties in obtaining transit visas for the Germans to travel to Iran. Comrade Molotov expressed the hope that the UK will take the necessary action against Turkey in connection with the passage of the Germans to Iran. The Soviet government, for its part, may also take appropriate measures.

Cripps asked comrade Molotov to inform Maisky of the forms of action that the Soviet government intends to take with regard to Iran if the latter refuses to meet halfway on the issue of the Germans.

Comrade Molotov promised to inform the ambassador of further measures that the Soviet government would decide to take.

Cripps said that he would consider it a very important circumstance if the Soviet government accepted the offer of the British government regarding military or economic pressure on Iran, in case the latter refused to meet halfway on the issue of the Germans. Cripps also added that he had a conversation with Gavrilovic and found it expedient for comrade Molotov to talk to a Yugoslav who could provide interesting information about Turkeyʹs position.

Then Cripps posed to comrade Molotov the question of the SovietIranian treaty of 1921 *. Cripps inquired whether the Soviet government would adhere to the clauses of this treaty if outside troops entered Iran. Cripps pointed out that German troops were known to wear civilian clothes. Cripps is interested in whether Soviet troops will enter Iranian territory if German troops find themselves there.

Comrade Molotov replied to Cripps that the Soviet government considered the Soviet‐Iranian treaty a very important factor in the current situation. For his part, comrade Molotov asked Cripps whether the British government had military forces in southern Iran that could put pressure on Iran in the event of a serious military threat.

Cripps replied that since the campaign in Syria is over, it seems to him personally possible to use a certain amount of British forces for military pressure in southern Iran. Cripps suggested that it would be nice to give instructions to the British industrialists, the owners of the oil fields in Iran, so that they refuse to supply the Iranians with oil. Cripps also added that he thinks it will be very convenient to negotiate Iran in London. For this, the Soviet government must authorize Maisky to make the necessary decisions.

Answering comrade Molotovʹs question, Cripps said that he considered the negotiation of Iran in London more convenient, since he had very little information here about the British military forces in Syria and southern Iran.

Having once again asked comrade Molotov to inform him of the governmentʹs decision on the question of Afghanistan, Cripps withdrew.

The conversation was recorded by Potrubach

Avp rf, f. 06, on. 3. P. 1. D. 6. L. 67‐69.

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