In Teheran Wreaths Were Laid At Memorial To Soviet Warriors

On Wedensday, during celebrations of the day of the victory over Nazism in the Great Patriotic War, wreaths were laid at the memorial to Soviet warriors. The ceremony was organized by the Embassy of Russia in Iran, embassies of other CIS countries, and military attaches of allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. Mikhail Pashkov, Russian charge d'afairs in Iran, told RIA Novosty that Iran was one of the countries where Soviet troops were stationed to supervise transport of cargoes from allied countries to the Soviet Union via the ports of Persian Gulf. "This channel of military supplies for our army was essential in preventing penetration of Nazi troops to oil deposits of the Caspian Sea and to Caucasus," said Mr. Pashkov. He said that no military actions took place in Iran, but some of Soviet servicemen died by illnesses and were killed in accidents. After the War their remains were transformed to memorial graves on territories occupied by the Russian embassy, and some of them are buried in the old Orthodox Christian cemetery Dulab in Teheran. The memory of those killed in that war remains sacred. The Russian embassy in Iran undertakes actions to find graves of Soviet soldiers, and a lot of attention is focused on protection and maintenance of their graves and tombstones. The dean of Orthodox St. Nicolas Cathedral in Teheran, Father-Superior Aleksandr, conducted Easter memorial service on the mass graves of Soviet soldiers who died in the World War II. -O- (MAL-lio) 10/05/01 11:35