The Republic of Mahabad or the Republic of Kurdistan (Kurdish: کۆماری کوردستان / Komara Kurdistanê; Persian: جمهوری مهاباد) was a short-lived Kurdish self-governing unrecognized state in present-day Iran, from 22 January to 15 December 1946. The Republic of Mahabad, a puppet state of the Soviet Union, arose alongside the Azerbaijan People's Government, a similarly short-lived unrecognized Soviet puppet state.