This year Russia and the world celebrate the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The importance of this historical event only increases with each year. The memory of the peoples of the former Soviet Union about that war is supported by common values. Victory Day, which became possible due to unity, is an opportunity to pay tribute to all those who fought and worked on the home front during the war. Vestnik Kavkaza remembers people who led the country to victory.
One of the most significant diplomatic moments of that war was the Tehran Conference in 1943 – the first meeting of leaders of the three leading powers of the anti-Hitler coalition, when Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to open a second front. The city for the summit had been selected by a process of elimination: it was dangerous to hold a meeting in Western Europe; Roosevelt and Churchill did not want to meet with Stalin on Soviet territory; and Stalin was afraid to go far from the front during such a tense time for the country. Meanwhile, there were representatives of all three states in Tehran – it was controlled by Soviet and British troops, and an American contingent was also there.
In addition, Soviet agents operated well in Tehran. Due to the geopolitical position of Azerbaijan, the security officers who were there played a special role in regional intelligence operations. Mamedguseyn Asadov, who at the age of 19 began service in one part of the Red Army special forces, and after the beginning of the Second World War was sent to Iran by the Main Intelligence Directorate, knew and felt the situation in Iran perfectly. Asadov perfectly mastered the operational situation, knew several foreign languages and had extensive intelligence capabilities.
When the Red Army occupied northern Iran in 1941, the intelligence of the Soviet 44th and 47th armies had been working on the elimination of German agents in Iran. The 182nd Soviet Mountain Rifle Regiment guarded the important facilities, which had been replaced by more prepared unit before the conference, stationed in Tehran. So the situation in Tehran on the eve of the conference was difficult, but controlled.
Nevertheless, Stalin refused to fly to the Iranian capital by plane and on November 22nd 1943 he left for Baku, and from there he flew to Tehran on a military plane.
While Stalin was on his way, a member of the High Command, the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky, arrived in the south-east of Azerbaijan, Astara, where he was met by Mamedguseyn Asadov. From there, Vasilevsky and Asadov, who at that time held the post of head of the Soviet trade mission in Iran, left for Tehran. On Stalin's order, the main purpose of Vasilevsky's visit was to check the readiness to meet the leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition and to monitor safety issues.
But they had problems with security, about which the audience knows from the Soviet detective movie, shot in 1980 by Soviet, French, Swiss and Spanish filmmakers, 'Tehran-43'. It's art, of course, there is a lot of fiction, but it is based on real events.
On the eve of the Tehran Conference, Mamedguseyn Asadov received information about preparations of the German intelligence service to assassinate the heads of the USSR, the US and Great Britain. He was among those involved in preventing the assassination.
Soviet intelligence agents, together with British colleagues from MI6, detected and decrypted all the messages from the German radio operators who prepared a base for the landing of a diversionary group. The German radio operators were intercepted and then the entire German spy network was arrested. Military counter-intelligence lieutenant colonel Nikolai Kravchenko, who organized the security of the summit by forces of the 'Smersh' departments of the Red Army military units, stationed in Iran, was urgently sent to Tehran to coordinate the activities of Soviet counter-intelligence. The attack was planned for November 30th, the birthday of Churchill. Three days before the arrival of the heads of state the protection of the airport, its terminal building and entrances was strengthened and additional posts on the route of the motorcade were set.
In the end, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill safely arrived in Tehran, held a conference and returned to their countries.
All the senior officers of the Soviet state security bodies responsible for ensuring the security of the conference were awarded. 36 soldiers and officers of the 131st Motorized Rifle Regiment of the NKVD were awarded the highest awards: 1 person with the Order of Lenin, 12 with the Order of the Red Banner, 9 with the Order of the Red Star, 7 with the Medal for Courage and 7 with the Medal for Battle Merit.
Mamedguseyn Asadov was awarded two orders at the same time – the Order of Lenin and the Red Star due to his crucial role in this operation.
