The Iran-Iraq War

The Iran-Iraq war, also known as the First Gulf War, was fought between the countries of Iraq and Iran from September 1980 to August 1988. The Iraqi invasion of Iran triggered the start of the war, and thus began what it would be considered as the longest conventional war of the twentieth century. Iraq, after having a long history of territorial disputes between Iran and fearful of losing its rich oil fields, decided to become the supreme power in the Persian Gulf by launching a simultaneous air and land invasion into Iranian territory on September 22nd, 1980. Hoping to become the most powerful state in the Persian Gulf by taking Iran, it led its infantry and armored divisions, artillery and what little aircraft that the Iraqis had on an attack against an outnumbered and overwhelmed Iranian defense. However, due to the careless decisions made by Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, lack of sufficient air support, and display of consistency in defense by the Iranian Army, Iraq gained little from the conflict and was eventually repelled by the Iranian defenders out of Iran, losing all territory gained during its invasion of Iran in the process by June, 1982. For the next six years, Iran would be on the offensive, forcing the Iraqis to defend their country. It was a war which dragged in the superpowers, such as the US or Soviet Union to protect its oil interests and prevent either side from claiming victory. The war came to a draw on August 20, 1988 with neither side gaining or losing anything short of significant.

The war came at a great cost in both economic and human losses. About an estimated 500,000 in military and civilian casualties were sustained by both sides. Regardless of the efforts both sides invested in the war, neither Iraq or Iran gained any clear advantages from the conflict, but instead it produced more problematic issues for them, such as debt and devastation to the civilian populace. The tactics that were used in the war involved tedious trench