Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988

Iraq had a long standing territorial grievance with Iran over control of the Shatt-al-Arab, a river formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers leading to the Persian Gulf, that was historically the border between the two countries. Meanwhile, the government the new Islamic Republic of Iran was purging its military of anti-revolutionary officers and struggling to consolidate power. Even so, the Iranian revolutionaries sought to incite the Shiite population of southern Iraq. Frequent border skirmishes were reported during the months leading up to the outbreak of war. The Iraqi leadership likely believed this was an opportune moment to attack Iran to gain territorial concessions, end Iranian interference and, perhaps, even overthrow the revolutionary government. On September 22, 1980, Iraq launched its war on Iran with air strikes on Iranian bases.

By the following day, the Iraqi army began a slow and methodical advance carefully advance along a broad front into Khuzestan province, taking Iran by surprise. At the Iraqi troops secured the city of Khorramshahr on October 24th but they failed to capture the important oil-refining center of Abadan. The Iraqi offensive bogged down by December after penetrating about 80km to 120km inside Iran and encountering unexpectedly strong Iranian resistance. In January 1981, Iran counterattacked. Iranian forces, including the Revolutionary Guards (a revolutionary militia) to bolster its regular troops, achieved some initial success but then bogged down in positional warfare for the rest of the year. Beginning in March 1982, Iran launch a series of counter-offensives that pushed the Iraqis back; except for a few small salient, Iraq had been completely driven from Iranian territory. June 1982, Iraq voluntarily withdrew its forces from all captured Iranian territory and the government announced its willingness to negotiate a settlement. Iran refused.

In July 1982, Iran launched a new offensive into Iraq directed toward the city of Basra. Iraqi defenses solidified once its troops were defending their own soil, and the war turned into a bloody stalemate with a static, entrenched front running just inside and along the Iraqi border. Iran repeatedly launched fruitless frontal assaults with infantry composed partly of untrained conscripts; the attacks were repelled by the superior firepower and air power of the Iraqis as well as the introduction of chemical weapons on the battlefield (including nerve gas and mustard gas). Both countries attempted to prevent the each other from exporting oil by engaging in the “tanker war” which sunk or damaged 340 ships between March 1984 and the end of the war; the United States and several western European states responded by stationing warships in the Persian Gulf to protect the oil supply. A year later, in March 1985, in a bid to break Iranian morale and force it to negotiate, Iraq began the “war of cities” in which air and missile attacks were launch against civilian targets; Iran simply retaliated in kind. The military stalemate on the battlefield persisted.

In March 1988, the Iranians launched their last offensive. Iraq ultimately stopped the advance with chemical weapons and then proceeded with its own offensive. The new drive led to a series of stunning victories by the end of July against a dispirited Iranian army. Iranian leaders were finally convinced to end the fighting, perhaps through a combination of the recent Iraqi military successes and the deteriorating Iranian economy. The United Nations mediated cease-fire agreement Iran had previously resisted was accepted and the fighting stopped on August 20, 1988. Peace remained elusive until 1990, after Iraq invaded Kuwait. The countries restored diplomatic relations, and Iraq agreed to Iranian terms for the settlement of the war: the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from occupied Iranian territory, division of sovereignty over the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, and a prisoner-of-war exchange.

Notes

[1] Brogan reports 400,000 to 600,000 Iranian battle deaths; Clodfelter reports a high Iranian battle deaths estimate of 730,000 as well. Correlates of War reports 750,000.

[2] Brogan reports 100,000 to 150,000 Iraqi battle deaths; Clodfelter reports Iraqi battle deaths of 150,000; Correlates of War reports 500,000.

References

Brogan 261-8; Clodfelter, 1069-73; EB - Iran-Iraq War; Iran - A Country Study; Iran - A Country Study; Kohn, 229-30.

Category

Inter-State War

Region

West Asia

Belligerents

Iran, Iraq

Dispute

Territory, Governance

Initiation Date

September 22, 19880

Termination Date

August 20, 1988

Duration

7 years, 10 months, 30 days
(2890 days)

Outcome

Unresolved Truce
(UN mediation)

Fatalities

Total: 600,000
Iran: 450,000^[1]
Iraq: 150,000^[2]

Magnitude

5.8