ɪn lˈeɪt nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd twˈɛnti sˈɪks, ˈæɡeɪbkˌɑːv wʌz pˈoʊstᵻd ɪn tɛɹˈɑːn æz ɹᵻzˈaɪdənt ʌvðɪ ˈɑːɡpuː fˈɔːɹən bɹˈæntʃ ɪn pˈɜːʒə, wˌɛɹ hiː wʌz səksˈɛsfəl ɪn əbtˈeɪnɪŋ fˈɔːɹən pˈaʊɚz sˈiːkɹᵻt kˈoʊdz, ɹᵻkɹˈuːɾɪŋ ˈeɪdʒənts ænd fˈoʊməntɪŋ ˌænɪmˈɔsᵻɾi ɐɡˈɛnst ðə bɹˈɪɾɪʃ baɪ ðə lˈoʊkəl tɹˈaɪbəl lˈiːdɚz, bˌʌt hiː fˈeɪld ɪnðə tˈæsk ʌv dɪspˈætʃɪŋ bˈæk tə ðə sˈoʊviət jˈuːniən ðə dᵻfˈɛktɚ bˈɔːɹɪs bˈæʒɐnˌɑːv, dʒˈoʊsəf stˈɑːlɪnz fˈɔːɹmɚɹ ɐsˈɪstənt.
In late 1926, Agabekov was posted in Tehran as rezident of the OGPU Foreign Branch in Persia, where he was successful in obtaining foreign powers' secret codes, recruiting agents and fomenting animosity against the British by the local tribal leaders, but he failed in the task of dispatching back to the Soviet Union the defector Boris Bazhanov, Joseph Stalin's former assistant.