What were the
causes and
consequences of
the Iran-Iraq War,
1980-8?
Iraq’s land and air invasion of Iraq in September 1980
marked the beginning of an 8 year war between the
two nations
It brought destabilisation to the region and devastation
to the participants
The causes of the war were a mixture of long standing
disputes and actions being taken without thought
It involved the leaders Saddam Hussein (Iraq) and
Ayatollah Khomeini (Iran)
TERRITORIAL
DISPUTES
Iran and Iraq shared a border of over 1,400km, so it is hardly a
surprise that most of their disputes involved territorial issues.
There were 2 main areas of dispute:
THE SHATT AL-ARAB WATERWAY
 KHUZESTAN
The Shatt al-Arab Waterway
 This waterway was formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates river.
 It was important in both Iran and Iraq for their oil exports
 It was especially important in Iraq as its only outlet to the sea.
 Arguments about navigation rights and had been going on since the 16th
century
 However, in 1937, a treaty was made, favouring Iraq, stating that the boundary
was to be marked by the low-water mark on the eastern bank of the river.
 This remained until 1969, when the Shah of Iran rejected the treaty and
refused to pay any more shipping tolls to the Iraqis.
Khuzestan
 The south west Iranian province of Khuzestan was a mainly non-Persian
population
 Most of the non-Persians were Arabs with cultural connections to the Iraqis
 Saddam took advantage of this and encouraged the Arabs living there to rebel
against the shahs rules
 In response to this, the Iranians persuaded the Kurds in the north of Iraq to take
up arms again Saddam Hussein, even providing them with training bases and
military equipment
Algiers Agreement
 Saddam was smart enough to know that starting a war with Iran at that time
wasn’t a great idea, as Iran had the fifth strongest army in the world in the
1970s.
 He decided to make a tactical retreat by signing the Algiers Agreement of 1975.
 In return for Iran ending the support for the Kurdish rebellion, Iraq dropped
claims to Khuzestan and agreed that the Shatt al-Arab should follow the deep
waterline.
 However, Hussein saw this as a setback and renounced the agreement shortly
before the invasion in 1980.
DOMINATION OF THE
GULF
The two countries had been contesting for power since ancient
civilisations of Persia and Mesopotamia
By the 1970s, Iran(Persia) and Iraq(Mesopotamia) were still the
only two countries interested in leadership for the region seeing as
the alone had the military and financial resources.
Saddam hoped that with the infiltration of Khuzestan and the
renewed control of the Shatt al-Arab that that Iraq's oil reserves
could be expanded significantly
This would shift the balance of power from Iran to Iraq
He also hoped to make Iraq the leader of the Arab world.
THE OPPORTUNITY
PROVIDED BY THE
ISLAMIC REVOLUTION
In 1975, Iran was much more powerful than Iraq. However in
1979, the Islamic revolution seemed to provide a temporary
change in the power balance.
The overthrow of the Shah led to an ending in the alliance
between the USA and Iran, meaning that the Iranian army was
deprived of American supplies
The revolution also led directly to a major purge on senior ranks in
the Iranian army. This provided a unique chance for him to deliver
a knockout blow to his main foreign enemy.
If he delayed his attack, it would only give Iran time to recover.
AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI’S
OPPOSITION TO SADDAM
HUSSEIN
Iran was a Shiite Muslim government, whilst Iraq was a secular
state, with most of its politicians being Sunni Muslims, even
though they made up less that 20% of the Iraqi population.
Khomeini had bitterness towards Saddam, partly because of
religion, and partly because of his expulsion from Iraq in 1977.
From 1979, Khomeini started appealing to Iraqi Shiites to
overthrow the Baath party and establish another Islamic republic.
In 1979-80, anti-Baath riot broke out in Shiite areas of Iraq and
Shiite militants began assassinations against Baath members.
Saddam regarded these with concern and believed that Khomeini
was intentionally trying to undermine his government.
In his view, his best form of defence was attack.
WESTERN
INVOLVEMENT IN THE
WAR
 The main interest of the western powers was to maintain power in the middle
east and to ensure the uninterrupted flow of oil from the region.
 The USA didn’t have enthusiasm for either Saddam or Khomeini but f the two
they preferred Iraq.
 America feared Iran winning the war because it would jeopardize their
economy
 The is supplied Iraq with arms, intelligence, and finance. Many European
countries supplied Iraq with equipment.
 The US involvement became more direct during the ‘War of the Tankers’ where
they sent warships to Iraq to guarantee oil supplies and engaged in attack on
Iranian oil installations and Iranian gunboats.
 Khomeini agreed to a ceasefire in 1988, mainly due to the western assistance
and the Iraqi superiority in military equipment
CONSEQUENCES OF
THE WAR




The war produced no winner
Both Saddam and Khomeini remained in power, neither achieving their war aims
War inflicted substantial carnage and devastation on both sides
The fatalities on each side represented about 2% of their population (Iraq 1 mil, Iran
50,000)
 This excluded those who were injured or psychologically damaged.
 Economic damage was also considered. Iraq went from one of the richest countries in
the world to a bankrupt state. They owed $80 billion in debt nnd their oil revenues
had more than halved to $11 billion.
 Investments in social projects like schools, housing and hospitals had to be delayed.
 Iran also faced bankruptcy and the value of its oil revenues had approximately halved
to around $10 billion. An immediate ipact in thr people of Iran was that their living
standards decreased drastically.
Despite the futility of the war, Saddam Hussein claimed that it had
been a glorious victory for Iraq.
He had halted the spread of Islamic revolution and had preventing
Khomeini from toppling his regime.
He believed that by surviving he had triumphed.
He even created a monument to display his triumph in Baghdad,
called ‘The Swords of Qudisiyah’
However, Saddam knew that he needed to win the trust of his
people back by increasing the wealth if his struggling country.