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Iraq War Between Iran And Iraq

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While both Iran and Iraq, the two most powerful states in the Persian Gulf, had boarder disputes dating back to 1501, Iraq has always had a long history of conflicts with its neighboring countries but none more conspicuously than Iran. Historians believe that the forty battles of the Iran- Iraq war were fought because of territorial and government disputes. After eight long years, the Iran- Iraq war was adequately more than people had every imagined it to be. The bitter war devastated both countries and left many with unanswered questions. The Iran Iraq War of 1980 was between Iran and Ba 'athist Iraq beginning on September 22, 1980, continuing for eight years, and ending on July 20, 1988. “This war set the stage for many of the current …show more content…

In fact, Iran and Iraq had completely different forms of government. The Iran empire is heir of the Persian empire, and Iraq is the heir of the Babylonian Empire; meaning the Iranians identify themselves as Persians, while the Iraqis identify themselves as Arabs. Because of this difference in government,

From the Iran perspective, the Shatt al Arab was a natural boarder to decipher the two counties however, because the tribes on both sides of the river were Arab Iraq claimed they had control over the entire area of the Shatt al Arab. However, Iran completely disagreed. Tension continued to build between Iraq and Iran when president Hussien publicized his his aspirations to “expand his countries power, prestige, and influence hoping to become the leading nation in the Middle East.” He believed the only way to accomplish his goal is to declare war on Iran. Many believed that the war would not actually go through, but in the early morning of September 22, 1980, Iraq attacked Iran and the Iran Iraq War of 1980 began. The fighting of the war commenced along the southwest boarder of the two countries. That morning, Iraq led the surprise invasion by air strikes on the Iranian air fields in attempt to destroy the Iranian Air Force. After the attack failed, Iraq then launched a ground invasion in attempt to cut off the Shatt al Arab from the rest of Iran. This began what has been described as “the 20th Century’s longest conventional war.” Following the initial

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