1980 Politics/Eastern World

 

The Iran-Iraq War started September 22, 1980 when Iraqi troops invaded the Iran borders.  The trigger of the war may have been the assassination attempt in March of 1980 on the Iraqi Foreign Minister in southern Iraq. The roots of the war lay in a number of territorial and political disputes between Iraq and Iran. Iraq wanted to seize control of the rich oil-producing Iranian border region of Khūzestān, a territory inhabited largely by ethnic Arabs over which Iraq sought to extend some form of suzerainty. Iraqi president Ṣaddām Ḥussein wanted to reassert his country’s sovereignty over both banks of the Shaṭṭ al-ʿArab, a river formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that was historically the border between the two countries. The War was ended by a 1988 cease-fire, though the resumption of normal diplomatic relations and the withdrawal of troops did not take place until the signing of a formal peace agreement on Aug. 16, 1990.  Iraq received advanced weapons and assistance from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait giving Iraq and advantage over Iran. It is unknown how many were killed during the war, but at least a half of million and possibly twice as many troops were killed on both sides.  Chemical warfare, missile attacks, and oil tanker attacks accounted for many of these deaths.  The war cost both sides billions of dollars and caused billions of dollars in damage especially to oil facilities. The Iran-Iraq war lasted longer than either world war.  At the end of this 8 year war, Iran and Iraq agreed to pre-war boundaries.   


http://www.history.com/topics/iran-iraq-war
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/293527/Iran-Iraq-War
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/united_states_iran_iraq_war1.php
http://www.worldology.com/Iraq/iran_iraq_war.htm