Why do you feel Stalin was so slow to agree to a meeting with Churchill and Roosevelt? Was his insistence on Tehran reasonable?

Why do you feel Stalin was so slow to agree to a meeting with Churchill and Roosevelt? Do you think his insistence on Tehran as a meeting point was reasonable?

One of the reasons he gave was his need to be present during the severe fighting on his borders--I don't doubt that was the case. But, I don't blame him, he felt the US and Britain were allied against him--they were calling the shots, they were deciding that a Normandy invasion might not happen or if it did when it would. In the meantime, he's fighting like crazy on the Eastern front. Part of it was a stand-off to gain some control as a completely invested equal partner in this fight. I'm not sure Churchill in particular wanted to give him that. FDR in the meantime was trying to placate them both.

The answer above is excellent. In a word, distrust in his "allies".

I believe he was afraid that he would lose time and troops to his offensive in the East. I think he thought Roosevelt and Churchill were aligned against him so it would be two against one.

I wish we had some way to know more about Stalin's mindset at the time. He comes off a little petulant insisting on a meeting in Tehran or nowhere, particularly since the other war leaders would need to travel much farther. But I wonder if he wasn't feeling like Russians were doing the bulk of the fighting and so meeting him at his convenience was the least his allies could do.

Stalin knew very well, the US and Britain were his allies for then realizing in the future that would only last for this war. He understood that Russia represented and still represents the antithesis of what we would believe in. Stalin was to murder almost the same number of his own people lost in WW2 during his reign.

Stalin became dictator in 1929 after a long siege of governmental instability. In order to maintain power he had to keep his feelers out continually. He was distrustful, not to mention very involved in WW2 battles on the Russian Front.

As WWII began, Stalin had signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany. After Hitler attacked Russia, it was strategic to join the Allied powers. So, as other posters have noted, this was a strategic alliance for Stalin. In all his dealings with his allies, he sought the upper hand.
Tehran was a strategic choice: close to home for Stalin and the Russian front. Tehran was also part of the supply chain of military equipment sent by the Allies to Russia, and fell under Russia’s sphere of influence. Lastly, the fact that Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to his choice proved to Stalin that he would have leverage in the conference.

I think there were a number of reasons, with the most obvious being the invasion in his country. But, I think in some ways he felt his voice was ignored when he made requests and that his country’s needs were less important. It’s possible too, that this was his way of trying to force Roosevelt and Churchill to acknowledge him as an equal.

I agree with everyone above - he was not happy that FDR and Churchill kept delaying the Normandy invasion. I think it was his way of showing his power and getting FDR and Churchill to compromise by meeting closer to his territory.

Stalin learned to distrust the allies during the war, as they kept putting off the Normandy invasion for their own reasons. He knew Churchill and Roosevelt were friends and that Churchill has vivisted the White House. Why was he not invited as well?? So after the war, it was not a big stretch for that to continue. The Allies did not treat him as an equal partner in the war decisions. Maybe he needed to exert some seemingly minor control over the meeting place as a way to assert his authority.

I think Stalin was a master manipulator and he knew that the longer he held his cards to his chest he could further manipulate Churchill and Roosevelt into concessions to what he wanted. He knew how important the Soviet manpower was to the war and that the USA and Great Britain knew that they could not alienate him.