DETAILS OF SOVIET ACTIVITY ALONG THE IRANIAN BORDER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R005300340010-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 15, 2006
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: July 28, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved Fore" 00457ROIQJ5RQW0Q;1,0-tjL% i #Wi;.
FrNWORMATION REPORT CD O.
13Ed;`! .DeLails of Soviet Activity along the Iranian
Border
rkl ACF
0 All OF
? N Fol.
Astara River Valle.
1., Traffic on 'order Road 18 Agr.I : 22 NIs _195.Q
1-24 April 1950 Average of 18 trucks and 23 horsedratim carts observed
25 April
26 and 27 April
28 Apr! 1
29 April
30 April
1 m,`
,.ay
2 May
3 and 4 May
5 May
may
6
daily..
47 trucks with troops and supplie 3, 20 horsedrawm
wagons with troops and barbed wiro; 2 jeeps with 6
officers, 1 ambulance car.
38 trucks and 27 horsedrawn v agon:3 with troops? steel
pipes, boards, stories, and lime
30 trucks and 18 horsedrrwn wagons with troops and
civilians; 3 jeeps with 4 officers,,
30 trucks and I.8 horsedrawn vehic'_es with troops and
civilians; 1 Jeep with 4 officers,,
27 trucks and 36 horsedrawn wagons with troops, civilians,
supplies, steel pipe, sand, boards, cement bags,,
wood poles; 1 jeep w ith 2 officersi.
11 trucks and 18 horsedrawn wagons with troops, atluau
nition, steel bars, food rations; 3 jeeps with 5 of-
ficers and 3 civiliaans.
24 trucks and 02 horsedrawn wagons smith troops, wooden
poles, rations.
18 trucks and 17 horsedrawn wagons with troops and
supplies.
15 trucks and 12 horsedrawn wagons with troops,
r w M AL2 jeeps vTith 6 officers.
CLASSIFICATION . .
,NAVY
NSRs ! _ - _ DISTRIBUTION I I
F
IDENTIAL in accordance with the
letter of 16 October 1978 from the
Director of Central Intelligence to the
Archivist of the U itecReSle ata 2006/
Next pQ k v?jjad ?2gr0
This document is hereby regraded to
CON
25X1
25X1
25X1
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
tfaa
A0
?Ai~ 38 JUL 50
NO. OF PAGES 5
NO, OF ENCLS.
(LISTIA BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT I
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;'Att, AGENCY
7 "ay
rI A, ay
25 trucks and 15 horsedramn wagons with troops,
civilians, rations, boards, and sand; 2 jeeps with 4
Of fie ~xz
14 tr=ks and .25 horsedrawn wagons with t ror.~r;s,
civilians, food r atl ons, hoar?d:s, x;;.-.unction; 1 jeep
with 2 officers..
At 5.00 P.m, one motor-drawn 75 mm gun with a short
barrel with a truck and. 17 men was observed on the
border road..
c; ?C} _z.l 89 trunks osnd 75 horsedrawn. wagons with trooT,s,
civilians, and food rations; 3 jeeps with
9 officers,
12 x"ay 30 trucks and 26 horsedrawtin wagons with troops and
civilians; 3 jee:as 1 t:h P officers:,
with t m ops,
39 trucks and 30 horsedrawn wagons
civil-ansq an9 food rations; '9 jeeps, 4 an-tulanese
cars, and 1 mat.orcycle vri.th 26 officers.
31 trucks and 2 5 horsedrawn wagons frith troops,
el:7iliaris, Pail food rations; 2 jeeps, I air.hula.nce car,
and I Motorcycle with 11 . officers.
29 trucks and 28 horsedrawn wagons with troops,
civilians, an ammunition rases;...
2E3 t:c-uoks and 13 horsedraknt wagons with troops and
civilians and large quantities of flour and ;umber;
3 jeeps with i officers.
18 and 19 1fiay 55 tricks and 55 hor.sedraien .ragons with troops and
civilianns', nar-n.inition cases, spool: of barbed wire,
food rat-.ions, and lumber; 5 jeeps with 12 officers
and NC:O:,,
20 and 21 May 50 trucks and 3F horsedrawn wagons with troops,
22 May
2 o kets and
civilians, boxes of azmurtition, gasoline cans, food
rations? wood posts, wood boards; 2 jeeps :isnd 10
more tracks with 10 (!-,ic) officers
25 trades and 1.9 horseedrawn wagons with troops,
civil.i_arns, spools of telephone wi_r?e:1 barbed wire,
cases of amniuni Lion, sxteel bars, and food rations;
2 trucks with 21~ military cadets and 4 officers
` lzosions 18 A Sri 1.
1 ;$24 April 1`350 Apr ;,1.;r t ply 50 exxxiosions daily -,which might denote
28 April
20 Arril
30 April
I'ay
active rock h1astinp, oonder.,,r not ar in trio in1.,erior.
At night 7 rc:ck;4s ,ere fired.
At night 7 rockets we ^e fired.
At night la'ld mines exploded in the rear of .he
Soviet I Ines.
At night 76 ro'c'kets (green, white, and ref) were fired,
May At nig n 6 roar ket s (white, ,';real l.v'^', greens red )
f1red,
0
3 and 4 aay At nigh i. 6 rocket's were fired,,
May A". night 6 rockets (white and red) were f ireo
7 May An unspecified nunber of rockets was fired at night,
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8 May At ni,;;ht several rockets ~.,rere fired; searchli.gh+:s
were also used
9-10-11, ',Tay During, the night of 11-12 May, 15 rocket&. were fired;
searchlights were used.
In the region of Arsha heights the; n w a,; rock blast-
ing.
12 May At night 3 rockets were fire;.:; there were searchlights,
13-14 May On the night of 13-14 May, several rocket- were fired; they-C.
was rock blasting in the vicinity of Arsha heights;
searchlights were used.
15 Nay At night ther?=vas rock blasting in the Arsha fi.cinity.
16 May At night at Post Alachai ( Alashi, 38-2,11 48-4r,%)
several rockets were fired. For a period of 6 hours
in this vicinity rock blasting was heard,
17 May At night rock blasting was underway at various points
in the hills.
18 and 1.9 May At night, rockets were fired at various points.
20 and 21 May
At night rockets were fired at v?3ri_ous points and
searchlights were beamed on the Iranian coast line.,
22 May At nigh : thk re3 w as rifle practice, or a period of
2 hours, At varionis points rock blasting was underway.
3., Elshin Ncaats T~art~araned Vv iti`ilita::-y i'ors'nnel in the Caspian Sea off .Soviet Astara
18-24 April 1950 On the Caspian Sea off Soviet Asta a 32 fishing boats
were observed ;daily. Each boat was manned by about
15 men, all.rrilitary personnel. In previous periods,
5 to 7 such craft, always nvined by military personnel,
had been observed daily.
25 April. 32 similar fishing boats, manned by mil:iitary personnel,
remained at sea fishing for 7 hours.
26 and 27 April 23 f:i sh i.rng boats (as above) werc at sea 7 hours.
28 April 11 fishing boats (as above) were at sea for 2 hours.
3 and 4 Nay 23 fish-+ng boats (as above) remained at sea for about
7 hours, fi . shing.
5 "ay S fishing boats (as above) rernainer. at ; ea 17_sh:ing
for 4 'hours
4. Other Naval Activity in the Vi`.inify_of Astara-
20 May
At 7:30 a.m.., on 20 May 1950, ti .,o Soviet gunboat ,
each armed w ith two 75 mm guns and two antiaircraft
machine guns, arrived from t he direction of 1 nkoran
and anchored off Soviet Astara.
21 May At 3:25 a.m,, on 21 May,, these boats departed in the
direction of Lenkoran.
25 May
A Soviet gunboat 'anchored close to the 1ramian
territorial waters. A voice originating; from t he
boat and amplified on a loud shaker delivered a.
speech in Turki in which the American oil policy in
Iran was denounced,
The "damin Sector (38-26N, 35-F30'~)
5. Miscellaneous AcUvity
25 April. There was rifle practice at various posts in this
vicinity, Three trucks drove into the post at
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Sholehcheran (snot located.', but south of Kilvyazy
(Ke1va, st:i) (.38-37N, 48-1.7;7 loaded with _-asolisno
and boards
26 and 27 April All border posts received supplies by truck and
horsedraw'n vagons.
29 April ,Fore tr r'~s and k'orsedrawwn wagons arrived at and left
v? rious border post:
30 April_ and 1 l,.ay Trucks with civilians, supplies, Haand b,-arb-)ed v>ire called
at several smaller posts.
8 trucks arrived at the Kilvyazy post.
2-7 ;?a,y Compared to previous periods, the cumber of trucks vith
troops and civilians trave:l.in ; along' the border
was ar.se . There was rifle and machine gun pr act ice.
Daring the night of 7-8 May, 7 rockets were noticed,.
1.6?-1c May Traffic activities increased; trucks and horse'lrawri
wagons were seen bringing awnnunit ion c as :s to -various
posts.
There was increased signaling activity from post to
post; mirrors, flashlights, and rockets were used.
On 16-.1.? May, there was rifle and machine gun prat-.
Lice ~, ;' t 6:3 0 p.m. on 1.9 May., there was artillery
practice; ten rounds were fired. There v: as also
machine min p active.
20 and 21 May
73 May
Rockets were firedd at nicLht,
Mounted ..,,nd foot patrols co-posed of military per-
sonnel and armed civilians were reported., Rockets
were fired ak, ni.Erht?
!at all j-asts all commanding officers left for t he
interior and r-er commandln,7 officers took overt.
Additional troops arrived at all posts, increasing
the strength of each post to t otal well over 40
n.bn. There v:w ore . number of civilians xaong the
new arrivals .,,
The 'a.4:init r ~rf Garmi. _ ?O1Tu jL- E' and the Mo an Steppe
6, 114isc; :1l.arxeous lkct v~ iuv
18-24 April Almost daily one or two Soviet reconnaissance planes
were seen flying along the border line in this
vicinity, apparently observing traffic on roads
stemming out of Garni.
Land:in fields w ere observed being built in the
vicinity of several border posts.
17 May At 10:00 p.m. for a period of tiro '.ours, powerful
searchlights from the Soviet post 7,shakchi (39-?09N,
48--17E) were beamed on Iranian territory, covering
certain stretches of the Ca:'t^i-Relyasuvar road and
the lower slopes of the surroandin _ mountains. '-Vhis
was the first time such a situation had occurred
in this area.
22 and 23 Two 75 mm guns mounted on pneumatic tires and motor
drawn arrived at Post Lakini (39-07N., 4 =Va.F) ,
At night searchlights from several posts were beamed
on Iranian territory.
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CENTRAL. AGENCY
7`
Khuda (39-CqN, J6-56E
$i sc 11 a eou s Activi~Z
1 and 2 May 17 trains in excess of regular traffic .were reported.
4 May
5 May
11 May
21 May
22 May
Freight :included asphalt, machines, salt, lumber.
coal,, oil.
6 trains in excess of regular traffic were .reported.
8 trains in excess of regular t raf f7.c were reported.
3 freight cars loaded with welding equipment moved
westward
Trucks and water pumps were carried on a w estbourd
train.
Westbound t raffle consisted of 1.59 cars, including
15 passenger railroad. cars with d ran curtains.
Eastbound traffic consisted of 95 cars.
Dzhulfa L'_ 8.561!I~ 15-3'IE)
Miscellaneous Activitv
9 May One freight car loaded with two tangy-'-s moved from
Nakhichevan to Ordubade
10 i~Tay
There was rock blasting on the banks of the Araxes
River ',three kilometers upstream ft -o, m the Jzhulfa
international bridge.
17 and 1 May 56 tracks wv ere observed on a westbo?rnd train,
21 May Trucks and water pumps were c arried on a westbound
train.
F.; . s ,ern Iranian -Soviet Border
9, Vicini of Ian p~ bad 7-7 1 9~?17r-
1 May At the Soviet post Houdan (sic) (37 38N, 58-2OE)
there was rifle practice and rocket practice by
local border guard bo~ztingent from 10:00 porn, to
midnight,
10, i'r an 9.o,q
1A-24 Aor 1_ Soviet rcconnai.ssance planes flew daily along th.?z
border line bet??esen B.aiat Haji (37-,"TNr 54, 5O1 )
and Zell. f (317-28N, 54-07E).
3E
11, larakhas (36-11N 61-1
10-11-12 Tay wring the nights of. 10, 11, 12 Ivay, there arcss ri 3e
and rocket practice.
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