The Importance of the Trans-Iranian Transport Corridor for the Implementation of the Lend-Lease Program during the Great Patriotic War

The article was prepared using materials from the Russian archives, as well as documents and photographs kept in the author’s family archive. In recent years, a number of fundamental studies have been published in our country on various aspects of Lend-Lease. However, the trans-Iranian (or southern) supply route remains the least studied. Researchers should pay attention to the difficulties of importing certain types of equipment, weapons, and food supplies through the Persian Gulf, as well as the specifics of receiving and transporting the cargo. The condition of Iranian ports was inadequate for the purpose of shipping military supplies to the USSR: there were no equipped berths or access roads, and the capacity of railways and highways was extremely low. In total, the Soviet Union spent approximately 11 million rubles on construction work by the spring of 1942. The article notes the critical importance of this corridor against the backdrop of the curtailment of supplies through northern ports in 1942: it was at this time that the Red Army needed military equipment to protect the southern oil regions and ensure victory over the Wehrmacht in the Battle of the Caucasus and at Stalingrad.