Iran proposes new treaties on equal terms

After Russia’s February Revolution weakened tsarist authority, Khiabani and colleagues revived the Tabriz Democrat party branch. Iranian activists used the opening to reorganize.

The new Soviet government called for peace without annexations and rejected secret diplomacy. Its programme challenged the imperial practices that had constrained Iran.

A published Soviet appeal rejected the agreement dividing Iran into spheres and promised Russian troop withdrawal after hostilities. The promise raised hopes of recovering independence.

Article 10 of the Brest-Litovsk armistice recognized neutral Iran’s territorial inviolability and provided for Russian and Ottoman troop withdrawal. Iran’s situation entered the peace negotiations.

Trotsky informed Iran that Soviet Russia rejected the Anglo-Russian convention of 1907. Iran sought release from the arrangement that had allocated foreign spheres of influence.

Article 7 of the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty committed the parties to respect Iran’s political and economic independence and territorial integrity. Iran was affected without being a signatory.

Karakhan’s note announced the Soviet rejection of tsarist privileges in Iran. It became a reference point for the later friendship treaty.

Iran’s government signed an agreement for British advisers, military assistance and finance. Opposition in Iran and abroad, including Soviet Russia, challenged its implications for independence.

Soviet forces landed at Anzali to seize a White Russian fleet sheltered there. Their intervention displaced British forces and opened a new phase in the Iranian Jangali movement.

A Soviet diplomatic note claimed the Anzali operation occurred without prior central approval. Iran confronted intervention despite Moscow’s language of non-interference.