The Iranian Crisis of 1945-46 and the Cold War

In its response to the Iranian crisis of November 1945 to June 1946, the United States reoriented its postwar policy toward the Soviet Union, shifting, in the terminology of the era, from "appeasement" to "getting tough." The crisis resulted from the Soviet Union's reluctance to withdraw troops from northern Iran and its encouragement of a separatist political movement in Azerbaijan. Urging the Iranian government to take a strong stand in the United Nations, and persistently supporting Iran in the fledgling international organization, the United States achieved its first diplomatic victory of the cold war. The Soviet Union withdrew its forces in the spring of 1946 and, by the end of the year, the Tehran government asserted its control over Azerbaijan. Despite its significance, American policy during the Iranian crisis has not been fully studied. Early accounts of the incident, some of which were written by officials involved in decision-making in 194546, held that the United States acted appropriately in the face of a Soviet effort to dominate Iran.' Recent writings on the origins of