Russia's Strategic Interests and Intentions in the Middle East. Report

A volume of reports commissioned for the Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee (JIC). The JIC was formed of representatives from the intelligence services, the armed services, and the Foreign Office. Its purpose was to assess military, security, and foreign policy requirements and coordinate Britain's intelligence organisations accordingly. A vast range of international and domestic issues are investigated and analysed in the JIC's reports. Subjects covered in this file include the Soviet Union's preparedness for war; the position of Scandinavian countries in the event of a major war; Soviet strategic interests and subversive activities in the Middle East; Soviet recruitment of German scientists; possible British intervention in southern Iran; the risks and benefits of aerial photographic reconnaissance of Soviet territory; the threat of a Soviet invasion of Turkey; the organisation of the Soviet intelligence services; and the release of information about German plans to invade the United Kingdom in 1940.