Project Cedar (also known as Operation Cedar)[citation needed] was a World War II project to deliver short-range aircraft from the United States to the USSR via Abadan, Iran in the Persian Gulf. The project was initiated before the United States' entry into the war, and a base was established on Abadan Island in March 1942. Oil tankers, returning from delivering oil to the United States, would take Bell P-39, Curtiss P-40, and Douglas A-20 parts to Abadan, where they were assembled into aircraft and flown to Russia. The 82nd Air Depot Group was part of Project Cedar.