At one period the USSR exercised considerable influence over Iran, especially after the Second World War, when pro-Soviet entities such as the Republic of Mahabad and the Azerbaijan People's…

But the very first fruit of Soviet-Iranian rapprochement was the Gilan Soviet Socialist Republic, founded in 1920. The Bolsheviks backed a nationalist movement, and the GSSR was proclaimed in the country, lasting only a year.

During the Second World War the USSR and Great Britain occupied Iran to prevent its passing under German control. When, after the war, the Soviet Union failed to withdraw its troops on time, two autonomous republics were created in the north with the support of Soviet forces. But the UN intervened, the troops had to be pulled out, and the days of the autonomies were numbered