(12-21-2017 02:59 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(12-21-2017 01:21 PM)49RFootballNow Wrote:  Also toppled the government of Reza Shah and replaced him with his more pro-Allied son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah. Moving Lend-Lease through Iran was a much safer option than past German warships and airbases along the Norwegian coastline. I agree that it doesn't look all that great for the British (par for the course for Stalin), but don't forget what the Brits did to their former allies at Mers-el-Kébir when they had just a suspicion that the French Fleet might be turned over to the Nazis. The Brits were not above "Preventative Measures" when they found it of necessity.

Another interesting Lend-Lease related topic is the fact that throughout the war US built cargo ships under Soviet flag went right through the northern Pacific from America and Canada full of "Non-warfare" Lend-Lease materials and straight into Vladivostok around northern Hokkaido with the Imperial Navy watching them sail by.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Route

British pragmatism ruled the day. Sort of like when they invaded Iceland.

Installing the last shah was one of the biggest long-term foreign policy mistakes the US has made.

Hard to tell how Iran would have turned out. Our support of dictators in South Vietnam was a bigger mistake. Maybe we aren't impacted now, but 50,000 Americans died.