| Consulate-General of the United States, Tabriz | |
|---|---|
 Entrance of the former US Consulate in Tabriz | |
 Interactive map of Consulate-General of the United States, Tabriz | |
| Type | Cultural |
| Location | Tabriz,East Azerbaijan province,Iran |
| Coordinates | 38°03′33″N46°16′56″E / 38.059229°N 46.282328°E /38.059229; 46.282328 |
| Built | 1944 |
| Original use | US Consulate |
| Current use | Restaurant and Reception Hall since 1999 |
| Governing body | Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran |
| Owner | Federal government of the United States |
The formerConsulate-General of the United States, Tabriz was adiplomatic andpolitical venue inTabriz that operated under the auspices of theUS Embassy inTehran. This consulate was opened in 1906 and was active until the capture of theUS Embassy in Tehran and the severance of Iran-US relations in 1980.[1]
This consulate was located at the end ofLilava neighborhood orSouth Shariati Street. After theIranian Revolution of 1979 and the severance of relations with the US government, its building was given to theIslamic Revolution Committees ofTabriz. After a few years, the building was given to theIranian Police Criminal Investigation Department of Tabriz. In 1999, the area became a restaurant and reception hall affiliated with thePolice Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Prior toWorld War II and theoccupation of Tabriz byAllied leaders of World War I, the US consulate was located in an unsuitable location, and a new consulate was established in 1943 in this place. The land of the consulate was formerly an abandoned garden called the "Armenian Desert" and was owned by a person named "Haj Ali Akbar Dabbagh". When theRed Army enteredTabriz on the 26th of August 1941, this barren land became the location of Soviet army tanks. In 1944, anAustrian engineer working in "Khosravi leather factory" named "Engineer Sigmund" bought this plot of land for ten thousandtomans and turned it into a garden. The US government then bought the garden from the Austrian engineer and moved the US consulate to its place. In the critical years of the end of World War II and the formation of theAzerbaijani Democratic Party inTabriz from 1945 to 1946, the consulate was the center of control and prevention of political-military activities ofSoviet Union forces inAzerbaijan and the US Deputy Consul in Tabriz namedRobert Rossow, Jr. observed the movements and activities of theRed Army in Tabriz and transmitted all the secret operations of theSoviet Union forces inAzerbaijan to the United States moment by moment.[2][3][4][5][6] Finally, the Soviet forces evacuated Azerbaijan in June 1946, and on December 12, 1946, the government of theAzerbaijani Democratic Party was defeated and disintegrated in front of the Iranian army.
After that, the US Consulate in Tabriz continued to fulfill its duty to spread US policies in Azerbaijan and prevent the spread of anti-American ideas, and to fight communist ideology activities in the region.[7]
Among the actions of the Americans in this consulate, can mention the display of an example of the "moonstone" that American astronauts brought to Earth from the Moon, in the big hall of the consulate, and the invitation of the people of Tabriz to watch this stone.
"Michael Metrinko", the US Consul in Tabriz from 1977 to 1979, said in an interview with theAssociation for Diplomatic Studies and Training about the Tabriz Consulate:[8][9]
The physical setup of Tabriz was spectacular. It was one of the grand old consulates. The Tabriz consulate sat on approximately 15 acres of walled in garden. It had 1200 trees inside the wall. It had an Olympic-size swimming pool, a six-car garage, a guest house, an absolutely lovely home, and a beautiful office building surrounded by gardens and landscaping and tree-lined driveways, fountains, bird ponds, fish ponds, a volley-ball field, a field for playing football, a rose garden, grape arbors - the whole bit. It had been laid out by an American architect when America was flush with money, in the 1960s, laid out and set up principally, I think, at CIA pressure, because it was built to serve as a border-watching post. It was right on the Soviet border. It was only 45 minutes by car away from the USSR border. I was also fairly close to the Turkish border, about an hour and a half to two hours, and not that distant from the Iraqi border. It was a very strategic location.
The table below lists the names of the US Consuls inTabriz and their years of responsibility.[10][1][11][12][8]
| Name | Years |
|---|---|
| William F. Doty | 1906–1910 |
| Gordon Paddock | 1910–1919 |
| Augustin W. Ferrin | 1926–1928 |
| William C. Burdett | 1950–1952 |
| Ernest Thomas Greene | ? |
| Robert L. Funseth | 1954–1956 |
| Harold G. Josif | 1957–1959 |
| William L. Eagleton | 1959–1961 |
| Archie M. Bolster | 1961–1963 |
| Carleton S. Coon Jr. | 1963–1965 |
| Walter L. Cutler | 1965–1967 |
| Charles A. Mast | 1972–1974 |
| David C. McGaffey | 1976–1979 |
| Michael Metrinko | 1978–1981 |
During the riot of the people ofTabriz againstMohammad Reza Pahlavi on February 18, 1978,[13] the "John F. Kennedy Library in Tabriz", the "Iran-US Cultural Center in Tabriz" and the "Point Four Program office" were attacked by revolutionaries and with the exception of the US consulate, which haddiplomatic immunity, all other American institutions in Tabriz were destroyed. DuringFebruary 1979, the revolutionaries of Tabriz, led byMohammad Ali Qazi Tabatabaei, moved towards this consulate and lowered the large sign of the consulate and the American flag from its door. Then, at the same time as theUS embassy in Tehran was captured, the US consulate in Tabriz was also occupied by the revolutionary invaders.[4]
At present, the location of this consulate on "Shariati Street" inTabriz has been turned into an "Reception Hall and Restaurant" owned by thePolice Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
۱۳۸۶
۱۳۲۵
The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training
Embassies are the main entries, whileconsulates-general are shown as sub-entries for each country. A full list can be found atList of diplomatic missions of the United States. | |||
| Africa | |||
| Americas | |||
| Asia | |||
| Europe | |||
| Oceania | |||
| Organizations |
| ||
| Former |
| ||
‡ Missions which are located in countries or cities that may be considered a part of more than one continent 1 Consulates-General which function as an embassy (ie. consul reports to State Department, not the respective country's ambassador) 2 The American Institute in Taiwan is ostensibly a public, non-profit organization to promote US-Taiwanese relations, but through State Department staffing & assistance, functions as an informal US diplomatic mission. | |||
| Americas | |
|---|---|
| Asia | |
| Europe | |
| Oceania | |
| Former | |
