What Happened During The Iran-Iraq War? (And What Caused It?)
Revisiting the deadly conflict
On September 22nd, 1980, Iraq launched a surprise attack on their neighbor Iran. Aircraft went screaming over the border, and explosions tore up strategic airfields. The initial bombings were the prelude to a broad attack across a 400 mile front. Iraqi troops poured into Iran, starting a war that would last far longer than anyone envisioned and kill hundreds of thousands. The Iran-Iraq War would last nearly eight years and become one of the bloodiest and most protracted wars in the post-WWII era.
What caused the Iran-Iraq War? Why does no one seem to remember the conflict in any great detail? Why did the war spiral into a year’s long struggle?
Against a backdrop of chaos in the Middle East and with the specter of a regional war rising once more, it is prudent to look back on the Iran-Iraq War. The last time a major regional war broke out in the Middle East, it left hundreds of thousands dead and laid the groundwork for future conflicts and continued instability.
Causes of The War
