The Treaty of Saadabad (or the Saadabad Pact) was a non-aggression pact signed by Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan on July 8, 1937, and lasted for five years. The treaty was signed in Tehran's Saadabad Palace and was part of an initiative for greater Middle Eastern-Oriental relations spearheaded by King Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan. Ratifications were exchanged in Tehran on June 25, 1938, and the treaty became effective on the same day. It was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on July 19, 1938.In Iraq, the left-leaning Bakr Sidqi military government of 1936–1937 was less Arab nationalist than other Iraqi governments. Sidqi was a Kurd and his prime minister, Hikmat Sulayman, was a Turkmen. They were, therefore, interested in diplomacy with Iraq's eastern, non-Arab neighbours. Turkey sought friendly relations with its neighbours and was still recovering from its defeat in World War I and the costly victory in the Turkish War of Independence.
In 1943, the treaty was automatically extended for a further five years because none of the signatories had renounced it.
1937Jul, 8
Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan sign the Treaty of Saadabad.
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Events on 1937
- 23Jan
Leon Trotsky
The trial of the anti-Soviet Trotskyist center sees seventeen mid-level Communists accused of sympathizing with Leon Trotsky and plotting to overthrow Joseph Stalin's regime. - 21Feb
Spanish Civil War
The League of Nations bans foreign national "volunteers" in the Spanish Civil War. - 12May
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The Duke and Duchess of York are crowned as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Westminster Abbey. - 27May
Golden Gate Bridge
In California, the Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California. - 22Jul
Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937
New Deal: The United States Senate votes down President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court of the United States.