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Originally Posted by surpreme  If Iran didn't armed it forces with American equipment during the 70's the Soviets could have invaded Iran. |
We can't say this with any certainty.
Even if the Shah hadn't spent billions on U.S. made arms, it is highly doubtful that the Soviets would have invaded Iran as this would have led to war with Uncle Sam, due to Iran's strategic importance for the West. With Afghanistan it was very different, Afghanistan was in the Soviet's backyard and the reason they invaded was because they feared instability there could spread to the Soviet Central Asian republics, there was no possibility of the Americans responding to a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan - with Iran it was very different.
