Soviet Interests in the Gulf

Abstract

The Soviets initially saw the Iranian revolution of 1979 as an event that greatly enhanced their security interests in the Gulf region. This was because the fall of the Shah was accompanied by the end of the strong Iranian-American alliance that flourished during his reign. Bitterly anti-American, the government of Ayatollah Khomeini immediately moved to end military cooperation with the United States. The seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by fundamentalist students acting with the approval of the government served to further embitter Iranian-American relations. Because the Khomeini regime ascribed nearly all the ills of Iranian society to American machinations (a point of view Moscow encouraged), the Soviets looked forward to establishing a de facto alliance with Tehran on the basis of a common anti-American foreign policy.