Iran. A bilateral invasion begins, with British forces in the southwest and Soviet forces in the north. There are only isolated pockets of resistance. On August 29 and 31, British and Soviet troops meet in the west of the country and near Tehran. Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was counting on American protection, but Franklin Delano Roosevelt had previously reached an agreement with the British. The Shah is forced to abdicate. By the end of 1943, there will also be 29 American soldiers on Iranian soil, and by the end of the war, 4.6 million tons of material will have been transported through Iran to the Soviet Union, including 5,000 aircraft and 200,000 trucks. This represents 25% of all Allied aid to the Soviets. And approximately 1 million tons of aid is donated to the Iranian civilian population. After the end of the war and the withdrawal of the Anglo-Americans, Red Army soldiers remained on Iranian soil, sparking protests even at the first session of the United Nations on January 19, 1946. The prospect of a possible military confrontation then brought Stalin to a more moderate position: the Soviets and Iranians signed a treaty on March 4, 1946, for the complete withdrawal of Soviet troops. This was a significant American political victory on the Middle Eastern stage.
