Iranian famine of 1942–1943

Iranian famine of 1942–1943 refers to a period of major starvation that took place in Iran, when it was under the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty, and its soil was occupied by the United Kingdom and Soviet Union forces, despite being a neutral country in World War II.[1]

During the occupation both, the British and the Soviets, tried to strengthen their influence in their respective zones. The allies took control over the Iranian rail network and contracted one half of Iran's publicly and privately owned trucks, thus occupying 75 percent of the country's food distribution capacity in the midst of the 1941 harvest. The remaining transportation capacities were quickly rendered unusable, due to a restriction of the import of spare parts.[2] As a consequence internal trade and social services were disrupted, costs of living increased more than 700 percent[3] and after a bad harvest in 1942 famine struck the British occupied south.[4] The British promised to supply the needed amount of grain, but failed to do so, and when the Iranian government turned to the United States for help, the promised aid never substantiated even after months-long negotiations.[5] The American diplomat Louis G. Dreyfus initially reported to the US government that the food situation was serious, however, shortly thereafter he uttered doubts about any wheat shortage and recommended that America should support "the British stand and insist on Iran helping itself before relying on Allied imports."

The British blamed the situation on hoarding, inefficient distribution and an inadequate transport system, however, Washington suspected that the British had deliberately manipulated the food supply to further their own political objectives.[6] Meanwhile the Soviets banned food shipments from the north, claiming they needed the resources for the people and soldiers fighting the Germans, and blamed British mismanagement for the famine, as no similar conditions existed in the Soviet-held areas. The Iranian public accused the Allies of pillaging the country and pushing Iran into inflation and starvation.[7] In December 1942, demonstrations against the scarcity of food became a daily occurrence in Tehran and eventually led to riots.[8] After nearly two weeks Prime Minister Ahmad Qavam ordered the police to quell the protests with deadly force, resulting in a number of deaths and injuries on both sides.[9] During the final months of 1942 and in 1943 the streets of Kermanshah were full of semi-naked and hungry people with fifteen deaths attributed to hunger and poverty occurring every day. In February 1943 Typhus broke out in the city and the hospital was closed down due to widespread infection among doctors and staff.[10] Only in 1943 the Soviets released 25,000 tons of grain to ameliorate the situation.[11]