Iran–Iraq War Facts for Kids

Explosion in Mehrabad Air Base in Tehran after Iraqi forces attacked Tehran on September 22, 1980

The Iran–Iraq War was a war between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran lasting from September 1980 to August 1988. It was commonly called the Persian Gulf War until Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. The Iraq-Kuwait war, which the United States entered, later was called the Persian Gulf War or the Gulf War.

The war began when Iraq invaded Iran on 22 September 1980, after a long history of border disputes and demands for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. Iraqi forces did well at the beginning of the war, taking Iranian Khuzestan, but before long they were stopped and forced out of Iran. The war continued for years, and neither side gained much ground in the resulting trench warfare. About a million soldiers died and a similar number of civilians. Both sides used blockade, which other countries opposed. Despite several calls for an end to the fighting by the United Nations Security Council, the two countries fought until 20 August 1988; the last prisoners of war were exchanged in 2003. The war changed politics in the Middle East and worldwide.

The Iran–Iraq War is also noted for Iraq's use of chemical weapons and biological weapons against Iranian troops and civilians. The role of the United States and Soviet Union was very important, dating back to the Cold War. In 1953, the US encouraged a coup d'état against Mohammad Mosaddegh, who was the Prime Minister of Iran. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi returned to power, supporting his military and his government. The United States sold many weapons to the Shah's government. Meanwhile, revolutionaries of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party overthrew the king of Iraq and, with the help of the Soviet Union, built up their army. Starting with the United Arab Republic, they sought to unite all the Arabs into one state, including the Arab minority in Iran.

After the war started, (especially between 1983 and 1988) the United States sold weapons to the Iraqis. This move was largely due to America's interest in containing the revolutionary Ayatollah Khomeini. Thus, both the Soviet Union and the United States supplied Iraq with weapons to use against Iran. The United States had sold many weapons to Iran before the war. it was believed the soviet union was selling weapons to both sides during the war.

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Meeting of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Houari Boumédiène and Saddam Hussein (left to right) during the Algiers Agreement in 1975.
Ruhollah Khomeini rose to power after the Iranian Revolution.
Location of Khuzestan Province in Iran which Iraq planned to annex
Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr, who was also commander-in-chief, on a Jeep-mounted 106mm recoilless anti-tank gun. Banisadr was impeached in June 1981.
The Shatt al-Arab on the Iran–Iraq border
Destroyed Iranian C-47 Skytrain
Iranian F-14A Tomcats equipped with AIM-54A, AIM-7 and AIM-9 missiles .
Iranian president Abulhassan Banisadr on the battlefront
The surprise attack on H-3 airbase is considered to be one of the most sophisticated air operations of the war.
Iranian Northrop F-5 aircraft during the war
Iraqi T-62 tank wreckage in Khuzestan Province, Iran
Iraqi soldiers surrendering after the Liberation of Khorramshahr
An admonitory declaration issued from the Iraqi government in order to warn Iranian troops in the Iran–Iraq War. The statement says: "Hey Iranians! No one has been downtrodden in the country where Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib, Husayn ibn Ali and Abbas ibn Ali are buried. Iraq has undoubtedly been an honorable country. All refugees are precious. Anyone who wants to live in exile can choose Iraq freely. We, the Sons of Iraq, have been ambushing foreign aggressors. The enemies who plan to assault Iraq will be disfavoured by God in this world and the hereafter. Be careful of attacking Iraq and Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib! If you surrender, you might be in peace."
95,000 Iranian child soldiers were made casualties during the Iran–Iraq War, mostly between the ages of 16 and 17, with a few younger.
Furthest ground gains
Iranian POWs in 1983 near Tikrit, Iraq
Iranian child soldier
Iranian troops fire 152 mm D-20 howitzer
Battle of the Marshes Iran front 1983 rest after exchange of fire 152 mm D-20 H
Operation Earnest Will: Tanker convoy No. 12 under US Navy escort (21 October 1987)
A map indicating the attacks on civilian areas of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait targeted during the "War of the Cities".
Iraqi commanders discussing strategy on the battlefront (1986)
Iranian President Ali Khamenei on the battlefront during the Iran–Iraq War
The People's Mujahedin of Iran, supported by Saddam, started a ten-day operation after both the Iranian and Iraqi governments accepted UN Resolution 598. Casualty estimates range from 2,000 to 10,000.
Adnan Khairallah, Iraqi Defense Minister, meeting with Iraqi soldiers during the war
IRGC navy speedboats using swarm tactics
An Iranian soldier wearing a gas mask during the Iran–Iraq War.
Iranian soldiers captured during Iraq's 1988 offensives
Al-Shaheed Monument in Baghdad was erected to commemorate the fallen Iraqi soldiers during the war.
Iranian Martyr Cemetery in Isfahan
Iranian Martyrs Museum in Tehran
An Iranian soldier's funeral in Mashhad, 2013
An Iraqi Mil Mi-24 on display at the military museum of Sa'dabad Palace in Iran
President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush work in the Oval Office of the White House, 20 July 1984.
Stark listing following two hits by Exocet missiles.
Damage to a mosque in Khoramshahr, Iran, the city that was invaded by Iraq in September 1980

Iran–Iraq War facts for kids

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