On September 22nd, 1980, Iraqi warplanes screamed over the Iranian plateau. As the men in every cockpit checked their list of targets, many of them expected their strikes to be the opening salvo of a quick war that would reshape the Middle East. It was not a quick war, but it would reshape the Middle East.
The Iran-Iraq War was influenced by two key revolutions. The first was the Ba'ath War. party's seizure of power in Iraq on July 17, 1968. This party, blending socialism, anti-imperialism, and Arab nationalism, installed Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr as president, with Saddam Hussein as vice president.
Over a decade, Saddam, enhancing Iraq's economy and infrastructure, rose to power, becoming president on July 16, 1979. His rule commenced with the executing of 22 party members, a move indicative of the ruthless regime that followed, culminating in further executions and consolidating Saddam's absolute control. Despite Saddam's harsh methods to quell opposition, his position remained vulnerable. His regime, advocating Arab unity and nationalism, faced challenges due to Iraq's significant non-Arab populations, especially the Kurds. who did not align with the Arab-centric ideology. Additionally, the Ba'ath Party, predominantly Sunni Muslims, including Saddam, governed a country where the majority were Shia Muslims.
This religious divide posed a continuous threat of potential revolt against Saddam's rule. In 1979, as Saddam Hussein consolidated his power, turmoil unfolded in neighboring Iran. Previously a secular Western-aligned autocracy, Iran was in disarray.
Since the Second World War, the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, had centralized power, embarking on extensive industrialization and westernization. He aligned Iran against the Soviet Union and procured advanced American weaponry. The Shah's alignment with the West, and his regime's repressiveness, fueled widespread discontent in Iran. This discontent culminated in the chaotic Iranian Revolution, of 1978-1979, leading to the Shah's ousting. Despite the revolution's internal divisions, many united behind Ruhollah Khomeini, a Shia cleric later known globally as the Ayatollah.
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His vision faced opposition, leading to rebellions across Iran, including the oil-rich majority Arab province of Khuzestan, where conflict arose against Khomeini's mostly Persian supporters. The rebels were swiftly defeated, but this wasn't the last strife Khuzestan would experience. Amid the chaos in Iran, Saddam Hussein saw both danger and opportunity.
He considered Khomeini's Shia theocracy as a threat to his Sunni-led rule in Shia-majority Iraq. Saddam's strategy involved claiming the Shat al-Arab waterway and Iran's Arab-majority Khuzestan province. Seizing these areas aimed to extend his influence, undermine Iran by seizing its oil reserves, and weaken Khomeini's challenge.
Saddam also counted on Iran's revolution-induced disarray to hinder its response to Iraqi military actions. By the summer of 1980, as various Iranian factions squabbled for power, Saddam was preparing for war. In June, aerial intelligence was being collected over Iran, and by early September, the Iraqi military had seized two disputed villages along the border. On September 16th, Saddam held a closed-door meeting with the highest political officers in the country.
Six days later, on September 22, 1980, Iraq invaded Iran. The opening of Iraq's offensive did not go as planned. Iraqi aircraft aimed to surprise and disable Iran's American-equipped Air Force, but failed to achieve decisive results. leading to Iran destroying about 30 Iraqi planes and gradually gaining air superiority.
On the ground, however, Iraqi army units initially fared better. They crossed the Shaat al Arab waterway, advancing along three fronts across the Iran-Iraq border. This caught local Iranian units off guard as they were unprepared and inadequately equipped to counter the Iraqi advancement. By late 1980, Iran's military was significantly weakened. with around 60% desertions and substantial purges in its officer corps.
Initially, Iraq faced only local militias, police, and spare units of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Despite their disadvantages, Iranian forces mounted unexpectedly strong resistance in some areas, notably in the southern city of Qoramshahr. Here, despite being vastly outnumbered and outgunned, they engaged Iraqi forces in over a month of intense urban warfare, effectively stalling the Iraqi offensive. When Iraq captured Qoramshahr on October 24th, Iran had managed to mobilize reinforcements, halting further Iraqi ground progress. Contrary to Saddam's expectations of a fragmented and demoralized Iran, the invasion unified Iranians under Khomeini's leadership, facing an external threat, they rallied to Khomeini's call to defend Islam and the revolution.
By November, recognizing the conflict wouldn't be brief, Saddam adjusted his strategy. As Iraqi forces besieged Khuzestan, both nations prepared for a protracted war. In January 1981, Iran shifted from defense to offense with Operation Nasser, targeting Iraqi siege lines near Dezful.
Despite their skill, and being equipped with M60 and Chieftain tanks, Iranian forces couldn't break through, as the Iraqis, forewarned, decisively repelled the offensive in a four-day tank battle. While Iran's tank crews managed to inflict considerable damage, the operation resulted in the loss of hundreds of Iranian tanks and armed vehicles. Operation Nasser's failure plunged Iran into political turmoil. The Iranian president, a key advocate of the offensive, faced impeachment, triggering internal conflict akin to a civil war.
Amidst this chaos, Khomeini's faction, backed by the army, consolidated more power, positioning the Ayatollah to lead Iran in the ongoing war with Iraq. Consequently, Iran resorted to cannibalizing parts from its sophisticated equipment to maintain its military capabilities. As the war continued, Iran discreetly obtained spare parts and munitions from nations like the United States and Israel who wished to prolong the conflict for their own interests. Conversely, Iraq faced fewer constraints in rearming, sourcing arms from various countries like the Soviet Union, France, and Greece. However, this rearmament was costly, and with declining oil revenues due to the war, Saddam resorted to borrowing up to $1 billion monthly from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The aftermath of Operation Nasser revealed a severe shortage of military supplies for Iran. Weapon availability became crucial for both Iraq and Iran. Iran's arsenal, primarily Western-made, included F-4 Phantoms, F-14 Tomcats, Chieftain, and M60 tanks. These advanced weapons occasionally gave Iran an advantage, but Western sanctions made replacements unattainable.
In September 1981, the Iran-Iraq wars dynamic shifted as Iran aimed to recapture Abadan. Unlike the failed Operation Nasser, This Iranian offensive took the Iraqis by surprise, leading to a hasty Iraqi retreat across a pontoon bridge, leaving behind significant equipment. Iran claimed the capture of 160 armored vehicles, 5 155mm artillery pieces, and 150 other vehicles, significantly boosting their morale. This success propelled Iran to launch more offensives. With the war turning unfavorable and Iraq's economy deteriorating, Saddam proposed withdrawing from Khuzestan for peace, but Iran rejected the offer.
Iran's momentum continued with Operation Undeniable Victory in March of 1982. Emulating World War I tactics, Iran bombarded Iraqi positions with artillery, followed by mass infantry assaults. Despite heavy Iranian casualties, the assaults were effective, leading to the recapture of Dezbol and the capture of over 15,000 Iraqi prisoners. By April's end, approximately 70,000 Iranian infantry and 200 tanks stormed Khorramshahr, resulting in a fierce battle, the second in two years for the city.
The battle, prolonged for weeks, intensified under a lingering fog that led to intense close-quarters combat. Ultimately, Saddam ordered a disorderly retreat from Khorramshahr, forfeiting nearly all of Iraq's initial territorial gains. With the vast majority of Iranian territory now liberated, and its military seemingly ascendant, Ayatollah Khomeini expanded his goals for the war.
Iran subsequently announced that it would now be seeking regime change in Iraq, with the specific aim of capturing and trying Saddam Hussein as a war criminal. For Saddam, the war he had started now became a fight for personal survival. Following their retreat from Qoramshahr, Iraq fortified the area around Basra and its oil fields with a defense system dubbed the Iron Ring. This stronghold was meant to halt the Iranian advance decisively.
On July 13th, 1982, Iran tested these defenses with Operation Ramadan, launching an offensive into Iraqi territory with 90,000 troops crossing the Shat al-Arab waterway. They penetrated 10 miles into Iraq but were eventually stopped. The 70,000 Iraqi defenders repelled multiple Iranian assaults over the ensuing month, leading to Iran abandoning the operation, having suffered 10,000 fatalities and significant vehicle losses.
The Iron Ring had effectively withstood the Iranian offensive. Despite the setback in Operation Ramadan, Iran remained resolute. In the following years, they initiated a long series of offensives against Iraqi defenses, but none significantly shifted the war's trajectory. Repeated Iranian infantry assaults met with staunch Iraqi resistance, resulting in a stalemate with neither side gaining substantial ground. Faced with this impasse and eager to break the deadlock in southern Iraq, both nations resorted to more unconventional and increasingly inhumane tactics.
including the widespread use of chemical weapons, attacks on civilians, and the use of child soldiers. These elements underscored the war's brutality, but are sensitive topics for a platform like YouTube. To view the uncensored version of this video, along with countless other hours of content, be sure to become a member to Armchair History TV.
Link in the description below. Despite the horrors of war, by 1985, the prolonged conflict had drained both Iran and Iraq, leaving them unable to launch major offensives. The front lines, largely unchanged for a while, saw a dramatic shift in June 1986 when Iran captured the Al-Faw Peninsula. This strategic victory denied Iraq sea access and established an Iranian presence west of the Shat al-Arab. This significant gain posed a continuous threat to the major Iraqi city of Basra, which soon found itself under Iranian siege.
In preparation for their assault on Basra, the Iranians had purchased over $1 billion in arms from China and Eastern Europe and amassed up to 200,000 troops, including some of their most elite units. At the beginning of 1987, Iran launched its long-awaited offensive, aiming to seize Basra and accelerate Saddam's downfall. To Iran, this assault was known as Operation Karbala 5. To Iraqis, it would become known as the Great Harvest. The Iranians launched a fierce attack that caught the overly confident Iraqis off guard, rapidly advancing into Basra's suburbs and breaking through five of the city's six defensive rings. Through intense combat and extensive use of mustard gas, Iraq managed to halt the Iranian onslaught, turning the swift advance into a grueling three-month siege with no further progress.
To the dismay of the Iranians, the next significant turn in the war would come from an Iraqi counteroffensive. The tide turned with Iraq's Operation Blessed Ramadan, beginning on April 17th, 1988, coinciding with the start of Ramadan. At dawn, 1,400 Iraqi artillery units bombarded Iranian positions with explosive and chemical shells. This was followed by an assault of up to 100,000 Iraqi soldiers on the Al-Faw Peninsula, southeast of Basra.
They rapidly ousted the Iranians from their significant territorial gains, marking one of the war's quickest reversals. Capitalizing on this success, Iraq escalated the operation into a larger offensive, eventually driving the Iranian military out of Iraq by July 1988. A month later, Iran and Iraq agreed to seize hostilities, returning to their pre-war borders. After nearly eight years of brutal conflict and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, both Iran and Iraq claimed victory.
But the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq War had complex and enduring consequences. In Iran, the revolution was preserved, potentially strengthening Khomeini's grip on power. However, the war inflicted massive economic losses, estimated in the hundreds of billions, and left extensive destruction across the country.
In Iraq, Saddam Hussein's regime remained intact, but his territorial ambitions were unmet, and the nation was burdened with crippling debt. Much of it owed to the small but oil-rich neighbor, Kuwait. Although the Iran-Iraq war had concluded, it set the stage for continued conflict in the Middle East. Thanks again to NVIDIA AI for sponsoring this video. Visit our link in the description below to sign up and create up to four watermarked videos for free, or upgrade to a paid plan for as low as $20 a month, and get access to millions of royalty-free stock footage clips, human-sounding voiceovers, and no watermarks.