[5] He was arrested and imprisoned during nine years in the late 1930s and early 1940s by the government of Reza Shah Pahlavi for his communist ideas and activities.

The Soviet Union founded the communist Azerbaijan People's Government in November 1945 during their occupation of Northern Iran, making Pishevari its leader.

[4] It seems however that the strong man of this government was Mohammed Biriya, Minister of Propaganda and head of secret police trained by the NKVD.

[4] His government's actions, including organizing and arming local militias, disarming of regular Iranian military and police forces, setting up an independent judiciary based on the Soviet legal system, nationalising banks,[4] levying taxes, land reform[4] without ratification of the Majlis, using Azerbaijani as the official language[4] and banning the usage of Persian[citation needed], and setting up an alternative curriculum and educational system, were viewed with deep suspicion by the central government and other Iranians.

By December 1946, both Azerbaijan and Kurdistan were evacuated by the Soviet forces and the Iranian government re-established control over the USSR-occupied territories.