Newly declassified documents from Russia’s FSB archive reveal the extraordinary challenges Soviet security teams faced while preparing Joseph Stalin’s visit to the 1943 Tehran Conference – and their shock upon seeing the state of the Iranian capital just weeks before the wartime summit.
The materials, which carried the classification “Top Secret” for decades, were published for the anniversary of the conference and provide a rare look at how Soviet intelligence organized one of the most sensitive operations of World War II.
“Chaos on the streets”: First impressions in Tehran
According to a report by TASS citing the FSB archive, NKGB officers sent to Tehran a month before the conference were stunned by the disorder in the city.
Traffic, they wrote, was “poorly organized and barely regulated.” Cars, trucks, motorcyclists, bicyclists, horse-drawn carts, camel caravans, donkeys, and even livestock all moved through the same central streets in “complete disorder.”
Police officers managing intersections “either failed to direct traffic or ignored it entirely.” Drivers – especially those operating British and American military vehicles – routinely ignored instructions even from senior police officers.
Traffic lights, the report noted dryly, served “more as street decoration than a means of regulating movement.”
A city unable to control crowds
Even more alarming for the Soviets was the inability of local security forces to control crowds. The officers recorded one incident on October 27, 1943, during celebrations for the Shah’s birthday at a Tehran stadium: police and soldiers were overwhelmed as thousands of spectators surged toward the central stands and later stampeded onto the field.
The NKGB team, seated on a diplomatic platform, described how they themselves were nearly swept up by the crush.
After observing processions involving the Shah and visiting British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, the Soviet officers concluded that motorcycle escorts – commonly used for VIP motorcades – would only make matters worse by attracting more crowds.
The most dangerous stretch: 7 kilometers through central Tehran
The most difficult element of Stalin’s arrival was securing the 7-kilometer route from the Tehran airfield – where his plane landed after flying from Baku – to the Soviet Embassy.
According to a December 6, 1943 memorandum by Dmitry Shadrin, deputy chief of the NKGB’s 6th Directorate (responsible for government protection), the route passed through areas thick with shops, street vendors, camel caravans, beggars, and dense civilian foot traffic.
To mitigate the risks, Soviet security forces divided the route into 10 sectors, each led by an officer from the 6th Directorate.
The operation involved:
400 Red Army soldiers and NKVD personnel manning official police checkpoints
over 100 plainclothes NKGB officers positioned along sidewalks and intersections
163 undercover operatives stationed near side streets
reserve groups of machine-gunners hidden in adjacent alleys
Because radio communications were unavailable, Shadrin – who operated in Tehran under the alias Sidorov – personally drove the route ahead of Stalin’s motorcade in a car flying red flags, signaling Soviet teams to block traffic.
This same protocol was repeated in reverse when the Soviet delegation returned to the airfield after the conference.
A glimpse into the hidden machinery of WWII diplomacy
The documents underline how precarious Stalin’s trip was – and how improvised wartime security operations could be, even at a summit involving the leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition.
The Tehran Conference, held from November 28 to December 1, 1943, brought together Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill to coordinate Allied strategy. Stalin’s journey from Baku to Tehran was considered extremely sensitive, and the NKGB’s field reports show why.
The newly released files offer an unusually vivid, ground-level look at the intelligence preparations behind one of the most consequential diplomatic meetings of the 20th century.
