This 1921 treaty normalized Soviet-Persian relations by canceling prior tsarist agreements and later justified Soviet military occupation of Iran in 1941.
Key Facts
- Signing date
- 26 February 1921
- Ratification date
- 26 February 1922, in Tehran
- League of Nations registration
- 7 June 1922
- Prior treaties canceled
- All previous Russo-Persian agreements, including Treaty of Turkmenchay
- Key contested articles
- Articles 5 and 6, repudiated by Iran in 1979
- Caspian Sea rights
- Equal shipping and flag rights granted to both Russia and Iran
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the Bolshevik Revolution, White Russian counter-revolutionary forces fled into Iranian territory and used it as a base to attack Soviet Russia, including incidents as late as 1918. Soviet Russia sought a formal agreement with Persia to prevent such activity and to replace the unequal tsarist-era treaties that had long disadvantaged Iran.
On 26 February 1921, representatives of Persia and Soviet Russia signed the Russo-Persian Treaty of Friendship in Moscow. It annulled all prior agreements between the two states, established equal shipping rights in the Caspian Sea for both nations, and included articles 5 and 6, which were debated intensely in the Persian parliament before acceptance driven partly by anti-British sentiment.
The treaty formed the legal basis for a Soviet military occupation of northern Iran in 1941. Articles 5 and 6, which permitted Soviet intervention under certain conditions, remained in force until Iran formally repudiated them in 1979, following the Islamic Revolution.
Political Outcome
Treaty signed, canceling all prior Russo-Persian agreements and establishing equal Caspian Sea rights; ratified 26 February 1922.
Unequal tsarist-era treaties, including Treaty of Turkmenchay, governed Russo-Persian relations
Bilateral equality formally established; Soviet Russia gained security guarantees against use of Iranian territory by counter-revolutionary forces