On this day, 84 years ago, May 31, 1941 (May 6, 1941 in the lunar calendar), the British army quelled the riots in Iraq. On May 31, 1941, Iraq Prime Minister Rashid Ali Girana ended his rebellion against the British troops after the British troops surrounded Baghdad and was forced to sign an armistice agreement. The British offensive also drove the German Air Force in Baghdad and the Italian envoy out of the Middle East. The incident highlighted the fact that the British army would not fight against the Arab people as it did against the Axis riots. People praised the British army's fierce battle with the Nazis in Crete for disrupting the German army's schedule and creating the conditions for victory in Baghdad. The Iraq regime that preceded Rashid Ali, Sheikh Abdul Ilah, immediately formed a new government. Under the surrender agreement, Britain could use all roads, railways and communications facilities in Iraq. In addition, according to the Iraq Internal Security Committee: "The complete independence of the country and the honor of the military will also be guaranteed."