The mood in the Iranian society in connection with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War
Authors: Марковчин В.В. 
Published: July 2024

Основой данной публикации является документ, посвященный настроениям, царившим в иранском обществе в конце июня 1941 г., когда дружественная Ирану нацистская Германия вероломно напала на Советский Союз. Помимо реакции граждан Ирана на новый акт фашистской агрессии и развитие событий на советско-германском фронте, в данном документе отражены взгляды находившихся в то время в этой стране иностранных дипломатов и специалистов. Вводимый в научный оборот документальный источник, позволяет судить о степени неоднородности иранского социума в целом, а также о настрое входящих в него различных этнорелигиозных групп. Принимая во внимание особую роль Ирана во Второй мировой войне, ставшего местом ожесточенной борьбы разведок и спецслужб за контроль над всем регионом Большого Ближнего Востока, от исхода которой во многом зависела общая расстановка сил в стратегическом противоборстве коалиций, информация, содержащаяся в этом документе, представляется важной. Она расширяет представления историков об обстановке в этой стране накануне принятия решения о вводе в нее советских и британских войск и установления особого режима управления, позволившего впоследствии проложить через ее территорию одну из основных линий снабжения Советского Союза грузами ленд-лиза.

The article is devoted to the moods prevailing in Iranian society at the end of June 1941, when a friendly country to Iran treacherously attacked the Soviet Union. In addition to the citizens of Iran, the publication also reflects the views on this problem on the part of foreign specialists who were in this country at that time. The publication introduces a completely new documentary source in order to show the heterogeneity of the Iranian society as a whole, and in various ethno-religious groups that inhabited the country. Similar sentiments were observed among diplomats from various countries, who also perceived reports of Germany's treacherous attack on the USSR in different ways. In addition, several articles concerning the activities of the German special services on Iranian territory during the Second World War were previously devoted to the Iranian problem. Occupying a strategic position in the region, Iran (Persia) for many centuries was the most important country that largely determined the stability of this region, provided that its geopolitical aspirations in certain periods of its history lay far beyond the Middle East. And even having lost to some extent its former significance, the country has not ceased to feel increased attention from both old geopolitical opponents and new players. It is for this reason that there have always been a lot of foreign intelligence officers in Iran, who sensitively monitored the slightest changes in the military-political conjuncture of this state. Historically, the intelligence services of Great Britain and Germany had quite serious agent positions in Iran, for example. The basis for the article was a document declassified in accordance with the procedure established by law and received by us from the archive of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation. It is a tenpage analytical report on the designated topic, prepared by one of the high-ranking operational sources of the Soviet residency in Iran. It is quite clear that its author is unlikely to ever be revealed, but the depth of his conclusions, awareness of the internal state of various segments of the population, the level of painstaking analysis of the Iranian press conducted by him suggest that he belonged to the elite of Iranian society at that time. The details of the new "Migration of Peoples", which were seriously discussed by the Iranian political elite at that time, are also of undoubted interest. The published document once again confirms the "gigantism" of Adolf Hitler's plans to restore a truly "German order" in all the territories occupied by the Wehrmacht troops.