Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran

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Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
Part of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II
Soviet tankmen of the 6th Tank Division driving through Tabriz on their T-26, 28 August 1941
Date 25–31 August 1941[1] (6 days) Location Iran 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53 Result Anglo-Soviet victory Abdication of Iranian monarch Reza Shah on 16 September 1941[1] Rise to power of Iranian crown prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi[2] Opening of the Persian Corridor by the Allies to support the Soviets against the German invasion Territorial changes Military occupation of Iran for the remainder of World War II Soviet occupation of northern Iran British occupation of southern Iran
Belligerents
Soviet Union  United Kingdom India  Australia (naval only)	Iran
Commanders and leaders
Dmitry Kozlov Sergei Trofimenko Edward Quinan William Slim	Reza Shah Ali Mansur Mohammad Ali Foroughi Gholamali Bayandor † Ahmad Nakhjavan M. Shahbakhti [fa]
Strength
Soviet Union: 3 armies British Empire: 2 divisions, 3 brigades 4 sloops 1 gunboat 1 corvette 1 armed merchant cruiser 1 armed yacht ? auxiliary vessels	9 divisions 60 aircraft 2 sloops 4 patrol boats
Casualties and losses
Soviet Union: 40 killed 3 aircraft destroyed British Empire: 22 killed[3] 50 wounded[3] 1 tank destroyed	~800 killed 6 aircraft destroyed 2 sloops destroyed 2 patrol boats captured
Civilian casualties: ~200 Iranian civilians killed
Map of Iran, showing British routes from Iraq and India as well as Soviet routes from the Caucasus and Central Asia

The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran or Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia was the joint invasion of the neutral Imperial State of Iran by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in August 1941. The two powers announced that they would stay until six months after the end of the war with their enemy Nazi Germany (World War II), which turned out to be 2 March 1946. On that date the British began to withdraw, but the Soviet Union delayed until May, citing "threats to Soviet security".^[4]

The invasion, code name Operation Countenance, was largely unopposed by the numerically and technologically outmatched Iranian forces. The multi-pronged coordinated invasion took place along Iran's borders with the Kingdom of Iraq, Azerbaijan SSR, and Turkmen SSR, with fighting beginning on 25 August and ending on 31 August when the Iranian government formally agreed to surrender, having already agreed to a ceasefire on 30 August.^[1]

The invasion took place two months after the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union's subsequent alliance with the United Kingdom. The attack also took place less than two months after Allied victories over pro-Axis forces in neighbouring Iraq and French Syria and Lebanon.

The invasion's strategic purpose was to ensure the safety of Allied supply lines to the USSR (see the Persian Corridor), secure Iranian oil fields, limit German influence in Iran (Reza Shah had leveraged Germany to offset the British and Soviet spheres of influence on Iran) and preempt a possible Axis advance from Turkey through Iran toward the Baku oil fields or British India. Following the invasion, on 16 September 1941 Reza Shah abdicated and went into exile, being replaced by his young son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iran would remain under Allied occupation until 1946.^[5]