Goar Vartanian, a former Soviet spy who with her husband helped prevent a Nazi assassination of Allied leaders in Tehran during World War II, has died in Moscow at age 93.
A spokesman for Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) told AFP on November 26 that Vartanian will be buried at Moscow's prestigious Troyekurovskoe Cemetery, possibly on November 29.
Vartanian and husband Gevork worked as secret agents on numerous missions abroad for the Soviet Union.
In 1943, the Vartanians helped thwart Operation Long Jump -- a plot by Nazi Germany to kill Soviet leader Josef Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt during a 1943 summit in the Iranian capital.
After Hitler ordered the plot to kill the "Big Three," the Vartanians and their group reportedly tracked Nazi agents and exposed the plan before it could take place.
Goar Vartanian was born on January 25, 1926, in Gyumri, then known as Leninakan, in what was then Soviet Armenia and moved to Iran with her family in the early 1930s.
At age 16, she joined an anti-fascist group and eventually worked with Gevork to expose German agents.
The couple moved to the Soviet Union in 1951 and had a long career as secret agents.
Gevork was decorated with the Hero of the Soviet Union award. He died in 2012 at age 87.
Soviet Spy Who Helped Stop Attack On WWII Allied Leaders Dies
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
U.S., Canadian Warplanes Intercept Russian, Chinese Military Aircraft Near Alaska
2Crowdsourcing Russia's Future: Poll Of Experts Considers What Comes After Putin
3Russia Attacks Ukrainian Danube Port For Second Day As NATO Scrambles Warplanes Over Romania
4Turkey Detains Russian Man Suspected Of Car Bombing In Moscow
5Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine
6Ukrainian Forces Fight Intense Battles In Donetsk Region, Zelenskiy Says
7Pentagon Finds Another $2 Billion Of Accounting Errors For Ukraine Aid
8'Don't Even Whisper In Your Language': Russian Course For Central Asians Lays Down Strict Rules
9Bulgarian President Admits Blocking Pro-Western Envoy To Kyiv
10Under Relentless Russian Attacks, Ukrainian Power Plant Workers Race To Get The Lights Back On
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
