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The Iran-Iraq War (also called the First Persian Gulf War, or the Imposed War in Iran) was a war between the Republic of Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran that lasted from September 22, 1980, until August 20, 1988. The conflict saw early successes by the Iraqis, but soon after they were repulsed and the conflict stabilized into a long war of attrition. It was commonly referred to as the Persian Gulf War until the Iraq-Kuwait conflict ( 1990- 91), which became known as the Second Persian Gulf War and later simply the Persian Gulf War.
1 Origins
The origins of the war are disputed, but it was fundamentally a war over dominance in the Persian Gulf region. The destabilization of Iran and its alienation from the West made that country a tempting target to the ambitious Saddam HusseinSaddm Hussein 'Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti Hussein also spelled Husayn and Hussain Arabic: ; born April 28, 1937 1) was President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. A rising star in the revolutionary Ba'ath Party, which espoused secular Arab nationalism, economic mod, Iraq's PresidentThe President of Iraq is Iraq's head of state and chief of government. Iraq became a republic after the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958. For most of the country's history, Iraq's presidents have been authoritarian dictators occupying an office without a. There were a number of outstanding territorial disputesA territorial dispute is a disagreement over the possession/control of land between two or more states, or over the possession/control of land by one state after it has conquered it from a former state no longer currently recognized by the occupying power between the two powers. One of the factors contributing to hostility between the two powers was Saddam Hussein's desire to regain full control of the Shatt al-Arab waterway at the head of the Persian Gulf, an important channel for the oilNodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Latin petrus rock and oleum oil), mineral oil or crude oil sometimes colloquially called black gold is a thick, dark brown or greenish flammable liquid, which exists in the uppe exports of both countries. In 1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i, United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had sanctioned that Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, attack Iraq over the waterway, which was under Iraqi control at the time; soon after both nations signed the Algiers Accord, in which Iraq made territorial concessions, including the waterway, in exchange for normalized relations. Iraq also had designs on the Iranian province of Khuzestan, which is one of the main oil-rich areas in Iran.
Saddam had recently come to power and was interested in elevating Iraq to a strong regional power. A successful invasion of western Iran would make Iraq the dominating force in the Persian Gulf region and its lucrative oil trade. Such lofty ambitions were not that far-fetched. Severe officer purges (including several executions ordered by Sadegh Khalkhali, the post-revolution Sharia ruler) and spare part shortages for Iran's American-made equipment had crippled Iran's once mighty military. The bulk of the Iranian military was made up of poorly armed, but committed, militias. Iran also had minimal defenses in the Arvand/Shatt al-Arab river.
The aftermath of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 was also central to the conflict. Iran was threatening to spread its revolution. It was widely believed that the oppressed Shi'ites in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait could follow the Iranian example and turn against their governments. The Iranians had been supporting Kurdish separatists in northern Iraq, and Shi'ite leaders in the rest of the country.
