Editing History of Iran (section)

====World War II====
{{See also|Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|Polish civilian camps in World War II|Persian Corridor}}
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| caption1 = [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] with FDR at the [[Tehran Conference]], 1943.
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| caption2 = [[Evacuation of Polish civilians from the USSR in World War II#Iran and the Middle East|Polish refugee camp on the outskirts of Tehran]], c. 1943.
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While [[Operation Barbarossa|German armies were highly successful]] against the [[Soviet Union in World War II|Soviet Union]], the Iranian government expected Germany to win the war and establish a powerful force on its borders. It rejected British and Soviet demands to expel German residents from Iran. In response, the two [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|invaded in August 1941]] and easily overwhelmed the weak Iranian army in ''[[Operation Countenance]]''. Iran became the major conduit of Allied [[Lend-Lease]] aid to the Soviet Union. The purpose was to secure Iranian [[oil field]]s and ensure Allied [[supply line]]s (see ''[[Persian Corridor]]''). Iran remained officially neutral. Its monarch [[Rezā Shāh]] was deposed during the subsequent occupation and replaced with his young son [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]].<ref>Richard Stewart, ''Sunrise at Abadan: the British and Soviet invasion of Iran, 1941'' (1988).</ref>

At the [[Tehran Conference of 1943]], the Allies issued the [[Tehran Declaration]] which guaranteed the post-war independence and boundaries of Iran. However, when the war actually ended, Soviet troops stationed in northwestern Iran not only refused to withdraw but backed revolts that established short-lived, pro-Soviet separatist national states in the northern regions of Azerbaijan and [[Iranian Kurdistan]], the [[Azerbaijan People's Government]] and the [[Republic of Kurdistan]] respectively, in late 1945. Soviet troops did not withdraw from Iran proper until May 1946 after receiving a promise of oil concessions. The Soviet republics in the north were soon [[Iran crisis of 1946|overthrown]] and the oil concessions were revoked.<ref>Louise Fawcett, "Revisiting the Iranian Crisis of 1946: How Much More Do We Know?." ''Iranian Studies'' 47#3 (2014): 379–399.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Iranian Crisis of 1945–46 and the Cold War |last=Hess |first=Gary R. |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=89 |number=1 |date=March 1974 |pages=117–145|doi=10.2307/2148118 |jstor=2148118 |url=http://azargoshnasp.com/recent_history/atoor/theiraniancriris194546.pdf|access-date=2023-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215211023/http://azargoshnasp.com/recent_history/atoor/theiraniancriris194546.pdf |archive-date=15 February 2016 }}</ref>