Abbas Amanat

Yes, from 1941 up to 1945.

And of course, when the Red Army refused to withdraw from Iranian Azerbaijan, and with some

thought of possible annexation of that province.

There was a big issue in the post-war Iran.

So after 1945.

Yes, 1945 to 1946, there was a big- Soviet Union getting greedy.

Yes, but eventually they agreed.

Eventually Stalin agreed to leave Iran

the Azerbaijan province in the hope that it would get some concessions from Iran, which in the oil of the Caspian area, which didn't work.

And it's a different story altogether.

But what happened is that in the post-war era, between 1944-45 and 1953 is a period of greater...

democratization, was that Reza Shah's dictatorship basically disappeared.

And this is where you would see political parties, free press, a lot of chaotic, really,

as democracies often are.

So something like, was it officially a democracy?

Yes, it was a democracy.

Was there elections?

There were elections, yes, of course.

Yes, of course.

And there were very diverse political tendencies