The Persian Corridor in World War II: The History of the Allies’ Most Important Supply Route

Operation Barbarossa was the most fateful decision of World War II, and when it gave the Soviets common cause with the British (and subsequently the Americans), the purpose of the Lend-Lease Act changed in nature as well. The bulk of Germany’s formidable armed forces were committed to the offensive in the east, which relieved the pressure on the British and meant that a German attack on Britain or elsewhere in Western Europe was not going to happen, so keeping the Soviets in the war became the most essential goal of the supply program.

Getting supplies to the Soviets to help them resist the German armies became a strategic imperative, and Iran’s geography of bordering the Persian Gulf to the south and Soviet territory to the north brought Iran to the front and center in the strategic supply effort. The German invasion devastated much of European Russia, but also devastated Ukraine and Belarus, other member “republics” in the Soviet Union, and the portions of the Soviet Union that bordered on Iran were Armenia, Azerbaijan and east of the Caspian, Turkmenistan.

The Persian Corridor involved British and Dominion forces, as well as Soviet armed forces and personnel, but the operation and management of the Persian Corridor became largely an American show. Most of the immense amount of aid sent was for transshipment across Iran to the Soviets, but it also involved supplying British and Commonwealth forces in Iran, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. Some was used to feed and supply Iran’s people, and some was used to modernize and maintain Iran’s infrastructure. There was also the need to supply the American troops working in the Persian Corridor. While 80% or so of the aid came from the U.S., there was also a significant amount of aid sent from Canada, Australia, South Africa and especially India.