ČESKOSLOVENSKO A ÍRÁN V 60. LETECH 20. STOLETÍ: PŘEKVAPIVÉ PARTNERSTVÍ

This study examines the rapidly changing attitudes of Czechoslovak diplomacy towards Iran at the turn of the 1950s and 1960s when the initially rather hostile mutual relations were replaced by an extraordinary partnership, especially in economic relations but partially also in politics and culture. The peak of the process of rapprochement came in the late 1960s when first Shah Muhammad Pahlavi made a state visit to Czechoslovakia in 1967, and this was followed by the official journey of Czechoslovak President Ludvík Svoboda to Iran two years later. The fact that the two countries were affiliated with the opposite superpower blocs during the ongoing Cold War made this shift in Czechoslovak foreign policy towards Iran particularly surprising. The rapid progress of Czechoslovak-Iranian relations in the 1960s was in contrast to the still relatively slow development of relations between Czechoslovakia and other pro-Western countries in the Middle East. This article aims to explain the political reasons for such an unexpected partnership between communist Czechoslovakia and the Iranian Empire. The research will draw on recently declassified sources from relevant Czech archives. Subsequently, the dynamics of Czechoslovak-Iranian relations during the 1960s will be evaluated.