The Treaty of Saadabad (or the Saadabad Pact) was a

non-aggression pact A non-aggression pact or neutrality pact is a treaty between two or more states/countries that includes a promise by the signatories not to engage in military action against each other. Such treaties may be described by other names, such as a tr ...

signed by

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

on July 8, 1937, and lasted for five years. The treaty was signed in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Saadabad Palace The Sa'dabad Complex ( fa, مجموعه سعدآباد – ''Majmue ye Sa’dābād'') is a 110 hectare complex built by the Qajar and Pahlavi monarchs, located in Shemiran, Greater Tehran, Iran. Today, the official residence of the President of ...

and was part of an initiative for greater Middle Eastern-Oriental relations spearheaded by King

Mohammed Zahir Shah Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...

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.''League of Nations Treaty Series'', vol. 190, pp. 22–27. In Iraq, the left-leaning

Bakr Sidqi Bakr Sidqi al-Askari (; 1890 – 11 August 1937) was an Iraqi general of Kurdish origin, born in 1890 in Kirkuk and assassinated on 11 August 1937, at Mosul. Early life Bakr Sidqi was born to Kurdish family either in ‘Askar,Edmund Ghareeb, ...

military government of 1936–1937 was less Arab nationalist than other Iraqi governments. Sidqi was a

Kurd ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Ir ...

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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the costly victory in the

Turkish War of Independence The Turkish War of Independence "War of Liberation", also known figuratively as ''İstiklâl Harbi'' "Independence War" or ''Millî Mücadele'' "National Struggle" (19 May 1919 – 24 July 1923) was a series of military campaigns waged by th ...

. In 1943, the treaty was automatically extended for a further five years because none of the signatories had renounced it.

Notes

External links

Text of the treaty

D. Cameron Watt: "The Saadabad Pact of 8 July 1937"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treaty Of Saadabad Treaties concluded in 1937 1937 in Asia Treaties of Turkey Treaties of Pahlavi Iran Treaties of the Kingdom of Iraq Treaties of the Kingdom of Afghanistan 1937 in Turkey 1937 in Iran 1937 in Iraq 1937 in Afghanistan Non-aggression pacts Interwar-period treaties