The article focuses on activities of the foreign schools in Iran in the 1920s that acted as agents of cultural diplomacy of their countries. This period saw the first steps that were taken by Reza Shah Pahlavi to modernize the educational system of Iran. The activities of French, US and German educational institutions within the framework of the emerging national state-controlled system of education are examined using relevant legislation and published documents of the Ministry of Enlightenment, Waqfs and Fine Arts. The functioning of the Soviet Russo-Persian schools in Iran is analysed and the importance of the All-Union Society for the Cultural Ties with Abroad (VOKS) is emphasised especially in relation to securing necessary funding for these schools. The representatives of VOKS in Iran carried out assessments of the Soviet schools. The activities of Soviet schools are shown from the viewpoints of the Soviet periodic press, heads of the VOKS, Soviet diplomatic representatives and school administration that were reflected in the archival documents (meeting minutes, reports of the directors of the schools, documents from the Soviet Embassy and Consulates) stored in the VOKS fund in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF). The Soviet press forged a positive image of the Russo-Persian schools, while in the internal documentation of the Soviet diplomatic staff the schools were criticised. The attitude of the Iranian government to the Soviet and other foreign schools is compared in this article.
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