What if, Imperial Iran's Military in 1985

Military dictators rule through strength. One whom chooses to surrender when the war is winnable is one who will end up dead.

This. If the USSR surrenders or even has the appearance of "Losing" to Iran, they're done as a superpower, and the Kremlin knows it. So therefore it comes down to the fact that the Soviet's can solve ALL their Iranian related problems in the course of a thirty second phone conversation. Then the Missile Troops start re-targeting their missiles. If the Kremlin is feeling merciful, during this time it informs Iran that it has X period of time to surrender, unconditionally. Or Else. The Deadline elapses and NORAD shits its pants as several regiments launch all at once, fortunately, they soon determine that the missiles are travelling south... and Iran is done for minutes later. After that, its just a matter of mopping up the remaining rebels and orphaned Iranian units.

The Soviet Union suffers condemnation world wide, but the men in the Kremlin don't care. In their view they have saved the Motherland, saved Soviet prestige and credibility, and ensured that no one, not the West, not jumped up third world nations, will even think about crossing the Soviet Union for another generation. I can't see the US willingly starting Nuclear Armageddon over a client state, though tensions would certainly be at the highest point imaginable during the Cold War as the Soviet Bear starts its slide towards oblivion in the aftermath of the war.
 
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I think the real question is what it would look like in 1991. With the fall of the USSR does Persian expand to encompass all Persians and maybe Turkmenistan and Afghanistan too?

Their borders won't change but they may try to expand their influence.

Imagine the Shah funding the Chechens and Dagestanis...
 
I always interpreted the Iranian force disposition as maintaining a defensive orientation with limited power projection capabilities.

Policies that I could see would be border raids, creation of guerrilla sanctuaries and supporting separatist groups, but I cannot see Imperial Iran invading the Soviet Union.
 
I always interpreted the Iranian force disposition as maintaining a defensive orientation with limited power projection capabilities.

Policies that I could see would be border raids, creation of guerrilla sanctuaries and supporting separatist groups, but I cannot see Imperial Iran invading the Soviet Union.

Especially because they have to know that it would result in a response they can't possibly defend against. Smuggling black market AK's over the boarder is one thing, it's completely deniable if you get caught. "What, you think that was us, Ambassador? It must be radicals and rebels operating in our northern provinces. We will, of course, be glad to cooperate with you to the fullest in rooting them out." Going full Barbarossa on the Soviets is another, and frankly if you're dumb enough to start planning for that, you deserve your hurried CIA assassination.
 
Especially because they have to know that it would result in a response they can't possibly defend against. Smuggling black market AK's over the boarder is one thing, it's completely deniable if you get caught. "What, you think that was us, Ambassador? It must be radicals and rebels operating in our northern provinces. We will, of course, be glad to cooperate with you to the fullest in rooting them out." Going full Barbarossa on the Soviets is another, and frankly if you're dumb enough to start planning for that, you deserve your hurried CIA assassination.

Iran gets invaded as part of a delayed Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. They want to show something and happen to get in-country as the USSR is literally about to start falling apart in OTL.
 

raharris1973

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A more realistic scenario could be the Shah's military being grown through the 80s (along with the economy) and maintained and the USSR falling apart on OTL's schedule. Iran expands its influence, if not its borders, heavily into the post-Soviet space.

Turkey could be outcompeted for influence by Iranian wealth and proximity.

Another thing about the Shah's regime is that through the late 1970s and 1980s I see it remaining very friendly with China. Although by the middle 1980s the Chinese were selling Iran arms, Beijing's embrace of the Shah had been so tight that it took China a few years to be forgiven by the Mullahs.
 
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