With this crucial supply route now open to the Soviet Union, the Persian Corridor would provide a massive flow of supplies (over 5 million tons of materiel) to the Soviets primarily, but also the British in the Middle East. The new Shah signed a Treaty of Alliance with Britain and the Soviet Union in January 1942, under which Iran provided nonmilitary assistance to the Allied war effort. Article Five of this treaty, although not entirely trusted by the Iranian leader, committed the Allies to leaving Iran "not more than six months after the cessation of hostilities". In September 1943, Iran declared war on Germany, thus qualifying for membership in the United Nations. At the Tehran Conference in November of that year, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and General Secretary Joseph Stalin reaffirmed their commitment to Iran's independence and territorial integrity and displayed a willingness to extend economic assistance to Iran. The effects of the war, however, were very disruptive for Iran. Food and other essential items were scarce. Severe inflation imposed great hardship on the lower and middle classes.In summer of 1943, Abwehr's Operation Francois was an attempt to use the dissident Qashqai people in Iran to sabotage British and American supplies bound for the Soviet Union.
Also in 1943, Operation Long Jump was an unsuccessful German plot to assassinate the "Big Three" Allied leaders, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt, at the Tehran Conference.During the three years of occupation, Stalin had expanded Soviet political influence in Azerbaijan and the Kurdish area in northwestern Iran, as well as in Iran founding the communist Tudeh Party of Iran. On 12 December 1945, after weeks of violent clashes a Soviet-backed separatist People's Republic of Azerbaijan was founded. The Kurdish People's Republic was also established in late 1945. Iranian government troops sent to reestablish control were blocked by Soviet Red Army units.
When the deadline for withdrawal arrived on 2 March 1946, six months after the end of World War II hostilities, the British began to withdraw, but Moscow refused, "citing threats to Soviet security."
Soviet troops did not withdraw from Iran proper until May, 1946 following Iran's official complaint to the newly-formed United Nations Security Council, which became the first complaint filed by a country in the U.N.'s history, and a test for the UN's effectiveness in resolving global issues in the aftermath of World War II. However, the UNSC took no direct steps in pressuring the Soviets to withdraw
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