I recently read a book based in the context of the Iranian revolution, but I didn’t quite understand the parts where it dicusses the Iran/Iraq war. Upon looking at videos, it seems like a very long and complex conflict. What are the main ideas that make it easier to understand?
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After the Iranian revolution the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath Party saw Iran’s government as weak and decided to annex the oil rich parts of the nation. The two nations had seen skirmishes and high tensions for some time, and outright war between the two seemed to be an inevitability.
The Iranian army was demoralized and damaged by the revolution but Saddam and his Generals mistakenly assumed it would be a cakewalk. Iraq was also somewhat unstable under the dictator in this era, so launching a (successful) war was a good way to not only boost Saddam’s popularity but also to assert control over the region.
Initial attacks went well but the Iranian forces fought back effectively and the conflict soon turned into a brutal stalemate.
Iraq was using advanced Soviet technology while the Iranians were using state-of-the-art America equipment (including famously F-14s) that had been acquired under the previous pro-Western regime under the Shah. The problem now was that Iran couldn’t get supplies from the US anymore so its supply of high-tech weapons was quite limited while the Iraqis could get in a steady stream of supplies from the USSR.
As the war dragged on both sides turned to using increasing amount of basic infantry and less high tech arms. Human wave attacks and trench warfare became common place, and eventually escalated to using chemical weapons. Many historians compare the style of fighting in this war to WW1.
This also expanded into a naval war as the limited navies of both countries attacked each other and their oil shipping in the Persian Gulf.
Foreign naval forces including the US had to step in the stabilize the region, and on more than one occasion US forces took advantage of the situation to attack Iraqi facilities. The US also accidentally shot down an Iranian passenger jet killing almost 300 civilians.
After almost a decade the UN brokered a cease-fire between both sides. Over a million civilians died, but the exact death toll isn’t clear.
With the war over Iraq turned its attention and considerable military forces towards its oil rich neighbor of Kuwait instead. The invasion of Kuwait was swift and successful (and arguably what Saddam should have done a decade earlier)
This however attracted the wrath of the Western coalition leading up to Operation Desert Storm.
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