The Pittsburgh Press (August 30, 1941)
Background of news –
NEW ROAD TO RUSSIA
By editorial research reports
At about the same time as Iran surrendered to British demands, thus opening a road for British and American aid to Russia, Japan was threatening to keep war supplies from reaching Russia via Vladivostok, and thus to close a road for British (and presumably American) aid to Russia.
The Soviet government has informed Japan that any interference with shipments to Vladivostok would be regarded as a distinctly unfriendly act whatever that may mean. At all events, Japan is beautifully situated geographically to bar shipments to Vladivostok.
Ships coming from the south must pass through the narrow strait between Japan proper and Korea, now part of Japan. And ships coming from the northeast must pass among the Kuril Islands of Japan.
Secretary of State Hull announced on Wednesday that the United States would insist on the freedom of the seas in sending shipments to Russia. Japan, of course, has no right under what used to be international law to bar shipments to Vladivostok as long as Japan is officially at peace with Russia. But if Japan were to declare war on Russia, Japan would have every legal right to blockade the port.
Up to the present, the United States has not officially proclaimed Russia a belligerent; hence the provisions of the Neutrality Act of 1939 do not apply to shipments from the United States to Russia. Even if Russia should be proclaimed a belligerent, shipments of materials except war supplies might proceed to Vladivostok in American vessels without going cash-and-carry, for the cash-and-carry provisions of the Neutrality Act of 1939 specifically make exceptions for American vessels proceeding to ports on the Pacific Ocean.
The act makes a similar exception for American vessels carrying non-war supplies for a belligerent to ports in the Arabian Sea or “any of its dependent waters.” That exception would cover shipments to Russia through Iran, because the Persian Gulf, through which Iran is reached by water, is an arm of the Arabian Sea.
The road to Russia through Iran is a long and difficult one. The United States has proclaimed the Mediterranean a war zone, so American vessels would have a much longer voyage to Iran than to Vladivostok. In fact, from eastern ports of the United States vessels would find the route shorter around Africa than through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific.
One railroad from Iran proceeds into Russia through the Caucasus. Several other railroads across the Caucasus have their terminals on the Caspian Sea, which borders Iran on the north. But navigation on the Caspian is difficult, in part because of the many shallows (the 725-mile long Caspian, the world’s largest completely landlocked lake, has no outlet, and is below sea level).
The Volga, the longest river in Europe, is navigable for hundreds of miles north of its many mouths in the Caspian to points in rail lines in western European Russia. Water communication is maintained between the Caspian and the Black Sea by the Volga, the Don, and canals connecting the two rivers. But in winter, ice interferes seriously with navigation on the Volga.
The northern Russian ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk are closed to British shipments to Russia because of the German occupation of Norway and the Finnish hostility to Russia.