The Outbreak of Iran-Iraq

In the fall of 1980, one of the largest and most destructive conflicts to occur from the end of the second world war started between Iran and Iraq. Lasting eight years, the war left approximately 1.5 million dead and around a million casualties with thousands of refugees fleeing both nations. This conflict's roots can be traced backed to conflicts that raged between the powers which controlled the Persian Iran and Arab Iraq regions (Bahadori, 2005). For centuries, the Persians and Arabs have been at war under the banners of opposing empires.. (Karsh, Geopolitical Determinism: The Origins of the Iran-Iraq War, 1990)

According to the Iraqis, the conflict started on the 4th of September when Iranian troops shelled Iraqi towns and villages along the middle border region that separated the two countries. According to Iran and most observers, on the 22nd of September, Iraq launched a full scale invasion of Iran along three fronts; the central, northern and southern border regions (Swearingen, 1988). In the preceding year, deteriorating conditions between the countries lead to numerous small border violations with Iran claimed from March 1979 to September 1980, 363 airspace violations and 434 attacks by Iraqi artillery, infantry and armored forces whilst Iraq claimed 544 similar violations during this time. At outbreak, Iran held the lead in terms of people fit for military service (6.2 million against 2.03 million) but sorely lacked in terms of operational military equipment such as tanks (1,040 to 4,000), armoured fighting vehicles (750 to 3,000), and combat aircraft (70 to 632) (Segal, 1988, pp. 950-951).

The War proceeded in 5 distinct phases:

i. (22 September 1980 - March 1981) - Iraqi Offensive ii. (March 1981 - March 1982) ...

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...he Iran-Iraq War. Research Paper, University of California, Berkeley, Department of History, Berkeley.

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