Marching Orders: The Untold Story of How the American Breaking of the Japanese Secret Codes Led to the Defeat of Nazi Germany and Japan

by Bruce Lee

By mid-1943, the Japanese are becoming more and more concerned about the subject. Oil is the lifeblood of the Japanese home islands. Thus, the stability of Iran is of ever-increasing concern to Tokyo. Washington is also concerned, and the Magic analysts note a special message from the Japanese ambassador in Ankara to Tokyo.77 “The Russians are spreading a great deal of propaganda in Iran,” he tells Tokyo. “They are trying to Sovietize Iranian Azerbaijan and are promising the people independence and union with Soviet Azerbaijan. They are supplying munitions to the Kurds and other minority groups and are stirring them up to revolt.” He also points out that Russia is trying to get Communist representatives elected to the National Parliament, while England worries that Russia may extend her control to the Persian Gulf. He claims that the majority of Iranians hate both England and Russia and hope for a German victory. Followers of the former shah [Reza Pahlavi, forced to abdicate in 1941] are trying to exploit these feelings, and they meet at night with the Shah to plot the revival of pro-German sentiment.