14. A Teenage Spy in Iran
Gevork Andreevich Vartanian was born in 1924 to Armenian parents in southern Russia. His father worked for the NKVD – the KGB’s predecessor. In 1930, his family moved to Iran. There, Vartanian’s father, under the guise of an Armenian businessman, spent the next two decades as a secret Soviet intelligence agent. The son followed in his father’s footsteps, and in 1940, sixteen-year-old Gevork was recruited by the senior Vartanian into the NKVD. In 1941, the USSR was thrust into WWII when the Germans launched a massive surprise attack, Operation Barbarossa, that nearly overwhelmed the Soviet Union. Iran, on the USSR’s southern border, took on special importance as a secure route through which to funnel supplies to the hard-pressed Soviets. Accordingly, the Soviets and British jointly invaded Iran in August, 1941, to secure its oilfields, and ensure that an Allied supply route to the USSR through Iranian territory was kept open.
The invaders deposed Iran’s ruler, the Shah, and replaced him with his more pliant son. Iran was then divided between the British and Soviets. German intelligence recruitment in Iran spiked, as the numbers of German sympathizers exploded. Vartanian’s workload increased, and his assignments were expanded from recruitment to include counterintelligence against enemy spies as well. The teenager proved himself a counterintelligence prodigy, and a veritable Pac Man at sniffing out and busting enemy spies. By early 1942, Vartanian’s team of seven intelligence operatives had identified over 400 German spies and clandestine agents in the Soviet zone. All of them were rounded up by Soviet troops and security personnel. In 1943, Vartanian was given a new assignment: ensure the security of the upcoming Tehran Conference. His mission was to identify and nip in the bud any enemy plans to disrupt the meeting of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin – the Allies’ “Big Three”.
