The Republic of Mahabad was the second but tinted version of the Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan that Soviet supporters had established with the help of the Red Army in December after the occupation of Tabriz. Qazi Mohammed, on behalf of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), founded by the Russian support on August 16, announced the Republic of Mahabad in January in Mahabad Chowarchira Square, where only two asphalted streets intersect.
Both the establishment of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the announcement of the government were the result of a trip to Baku that the Russians had arranged for Qazi Mohammad and a group of tribal chiefs in September. Stalin flirted with the idea of annexing the north west of Iran to the Soviet Union, and the Kurds were part of his plan. In Baku, Kurds were promised money, a printing press, heavy weapons and scholarships in the school system. The ruling of the Republic of Mahabad did not go beyond the sixty miles around Mahabad, which itself was part of the Soviet safe zone.
From the book (After such knowledge what forgiveness?).
