British and Soviet forces invade and occupy Iran

Cossack forces led by Reza Khan entered Tehran and helped install journalist Seyyed Zia al-Din Tabataba’i as prime minister. British officials had contacts with plotters and British policy shaped...

The Moscow treaty renounced a range of Tsarist-era privileges and debts and recognized Persian sovereignty. Article 6 also reserved a Soviet right to intervene if a third power used Iranian...

The Majlis voted to depose the Qajar dynasty and transfer provisional governing powers to Reza Khan pending a constituent assembly. Reza Khan was crowned Reza Shah in 1926. Parliamentary procedure...

After the government canceled the D’Arcy concession in 1932, negotiations produced a new agreement with the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The Majlis ratified it May 28; royal assent followed May 29. It...

A foreign ministry circular took effect on Nowruz, asking governments to use “Iran” and “Iranian” in official correspondence instead of the Western exonym “Persia.” Iran was already used domestically;...

Three weeks after the invasion, Reza Shah abdicated and his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi succeeded him. Allied pressure and the collapse of Iranian military resistance shaped the succession. Reza Shah...

Iran, Britain, and the Soviet Union signed an alliance treaty during occupation. Britain and the USSR pledged to respect Iran’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity and withdraw forces...

Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin declared support for Iran’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity and recognized its wartime contribution. Iran was not represented at their summit,...

The Azerbaijan Democratic Party led by Ja‘far Pishevari proclaimed a provincial government amid demands for language rights, land reform, and self-government. Soviet troops occupied the area,...

The six-month deadline, calculated from Japan’s September 2, 1945 surrender under Article 5, passed while Soviet forces remained in northern Iran. Britain and the United States had withdrawn. Iran...