Iraq-Iran War: War broke out in Iran as soon as the Islamic Revolution came, Saddam Hussein had troubled the Supreme Leader a lot.

Iraq-Iran War: Iran has troubled America and Israel in the Gaza war. But in 1979, after the Islamic Revolution, Iran was attacked by a Muslim country and this war lasted for about 8 years. That is since the day the Islamic Revolution took place in Iran and the rule of the religious leader as the Supreme Leader continues, war and conflict have been going on since then.

Saddam Hussein and Ali Khamenei

Whenever any discussion related to Iran starts, the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is always mentioned in it. After 1979, Iran completely changed and proved itself as a major regional power without the help of Western countries. But Iran's journey to reach here has not been easy. It was only after the Islamic Revolution that its neighboring country Iraq attacked it. This war between Iran and Iraq lasted for about 8 years in which both the countries suffered huge loss of life and property.

The then President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, took over as the President of Iraq during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Saddam Hussein became the 5th President of Iraq, and he was also the Sunni President of the Shia-majority country. One of the major reasons for attacking Iran was that after the Iranian Revolution, Saddam Hussein started fearing that the Shia Muslims of the country might become a threat to his throne by being influenced by Iran.

Reason for dispute between the two countries

Tension between Iran and Iraq had been going on since the First World War. A source of conflict until the 1970s was control of the Shatt al-Arab waterway. Formed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, its southern end also marks the border between the two countries. Under the 1975 Algiers Agreement, Iran halted its support for the Kurdish rebellion in northern Iraq. In return, Iraq had to reduce its control over the waterway.

But a new turn in this dispute came when after the Iranian Revolution, the government of Shah Mohammad Reza, supported by Western countries, was toppled by a rebellion led by Shia religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Saddam Hussein, who became president with the support of minority Sunni Muslims just a few days before the revolution, began to fear the Iranian revolution expanding to Shia-dominated Iraq. After this, Saddam Hussein demanded control over the Shatt al-Arab waterway by ending the 1975 agreement.

Iraq's attack on Iran

Saddam Hussein was well aware that Iran's army had become weak after the long struggle for revolution. Taking advantage of this, the Iraqi army carried out a full-scale invasion of neighboring Iran in September 1980 and bombed Iran's air bases and oil facilities. Which started the Iran-Iraq war. Relations between the two countries were already full of ups and downs due to religious, regional, and political disputes. This step of Saddam Hussein added more fuel to the fire. Initially, Iraq's invasion was successful and they established control over some cities of Iran. But later he had to face dangerous Iranian resistance.

By 1982, Iran succeeded in driving the Iraqi army back to its pre-war border lines. Which Iraq initiated an agreement to end the war but it was rejected by Iran and this war continued for the next 8 years.

How did the 8-year war end?

Till 1988, Iran made several unsuccessful attempts to capture Iraq's land, but the Iraqi army, with the help of Sunni countries like Saudi Arabia, gave them a befitting reply every time. When the Iraqi army again began gaining ground on the battlefield, Iran's cleric leaders began to see little hope of a decisive victory. Then in July 1988, both the countries signed a ceasefire under the mediation of the United Nations under Security Council Resolution 598. The war formally ended on August 20, 1988, after more than half a million soldiers and civilians were killed.

Image Tv9