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Prior to the combat in Madagascar and French North Africa, anti-British sentiment in Iraq was high. This led to a coup d’etat in 1941 against the pro-British government and a British military intervention in response.
The rebels asked the Axis for assistance, but the Germans, now preoccupied in Greece and preparing to invade Russia, could only send military equipment. This had to be delivered via airfields and railways in Vichy Syria, and since the Vichy government was now firmly anti-British, they agreed to help. Although the coup was defeated, this was the first time the Vichy regime had actively contributed to the war, and it resulted in a full British invasion of Syria.