New realities in the Strait of Hormuz Sep 23, 2008
In the past, Iran showed restraint, even during the Iran-Iraq War, when considering whether to disrupt maritime passage in the strait. But if the United States or Israel attacked Iran, say, over its nuclear program, the restraint that previously characterized Iranian behavior in the strait might evaporate. (Asia Times Online)
Iran warns against attack on nuclear facilities Sep 22, 2008
Iran's armed forces display the country's hardware, in front of a picture of the Iranian late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, during a military parade ceremony, marking the 28th anniversary of the onset of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), in front of the mausoleum of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008. . (MSNBC -- International)
Iran vows to block any attack Sep 21, 2008
He was speaking at a parade broadcast on state television to mark the start of the Iran-Iraq war in September 1980. Hundreds of troops marched past the official podium, followed by military hardware, including the Shahab-3 missile, which television commentators said had a range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles), putting Israel in range. (Yahoo News -- Top Stories)
How Palin Can Hit Back Sep 18, 2008
And that begat the Iran-Iraq war that led to Saddam Hussein having the worlds fourth biggest army, Palin could continue. And Mr. Carters incompetence begat the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which spawned a terrorist group called al-Qaida led by Osama bin Laden, which used what it learned on 9/11 to attack our World Trade Center and Pentagon 3,000 American deaths on the bloody hands of Jimmy Carter. (Newsmax)
Plight Of Fellow Iraqis Shapes Oud Player's Music Sep 15, 2008
He developed the technique to help a former student who returned from the Iran-Iraq war without his right arm ... His most stunning innovation came about because of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, which left thousands of people missing limbs. (CBS News -- World)
Tehran feels an Arab sting Sep 12, 2008
That became strikingly clear when prime coverage was given to the death of General Hisham Sabah al-Fakhri, a decorated officer from Saddam Hussein's army, who made a reputation for himself for fighting the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). He was treated as a celebrated Iraqi, although nothing had been. (Asia Times Online)
Iran wants Hamas to help, but not win Sep 10, 2008
During the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, however, Arafat sided with Saddam Hussein. During the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, he also sided with Saddam, an old friend of the Palestinians. (Asia Times Online)
An election perspective Sep 10, 2008
We got involved in both sides of the Iran-Iraq war and the result was Saddam and the current Iraq war and a brewing war with Iran. We built a bunch of "permanent" bases in Saudi Arabia to fight a "temporary" war to free Kuwait, and those bases are what put the burr in Bin Laden's sandals. (Montana Standard, MT)
All tangled up Sep 10, 2008
Relations between Iran and the U.S. have been tense for decades with events such as the Iran hostage crisis, the Iran-Contra affair and the Iran-Iraq War. Tensions between the countries have worsened in recent years as President George W. Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have clashed over nuclear policies and differing ideologies. (Daily Orange, NY)
Russia says Iran nuclear plant nearing completion Sep 9, 2008
Siemens's project was disrupted by Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Russia, using Bushehr as a lever in relations with Tehran, has repeatedly put back the start-up date. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Oil discovery transformed Iran Aug 30, 2008
In the Iran-Iraq war from 1980-88, Saddam Hussein targeted the Iranian oil industry - dramatically reducing production. He had at least a degree of Western support. (BBC News -- Africa)
Iran's economic self-mutilation Aug 26, 2008
In areas outside of government policy control, it must be said that the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s had a catastrophic effect on Iran's economic progress but sanctions have had a very limited effect on the daily lives of Iranians. The only significant effect of sanctions has been a delay in the development of Iran's oil and natural gas industry, which, in turn, has adversely affected the global energy balance and ironically and fortunately for Iran, may have preserved Iran's exhaustible energy... (Asia Times Online)
The Days of Their Lives: Photographs by Seifollah Samadian Aug 25, 2008
Highly-regarded internationally as a cinematographer and art director as well as a photographer, who has worked with directors such as Martin Scorsese and Abbas Kiarostami, Samadian came to the forefront of critical attention in the wave of Iranian photography that gained momentum in the arts scene following the end of the Iran-Iraq war. In the drive to document events that followed, Samadian became Professor of Photojournalism at the University of Tehran and is today Publisher and... (AbsoluteArts.com)
LETTERS: NCT, Aug, 22, 2008 Aug 23, 2008
Iraq's adversary prompting this at the time was Iran, since the Iran-Iraq war. We spent a trillions for this. (North County Times)
Book review: 'A Path Out of the Desert' Aug 23, 2008
We are told, for instance, that the United States only grudgingly became involved in the grisly Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s when it nobly undertook to reflag oil tankers in order to protect the flow of oil. No mention here of Donald Rumsfeld's back-slapping with Saddam Hussein or the supply of satellite intelligence to him or the exchange of American weapons to Iran for hostages. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Petroleum reserves: All the oil we need Aug 22, 2008
During the Iran-Iraq war, Baghdad and Tehran struck each other's oil terminals and tankers repeatedly, but they proved to be very resilient targets ... They managed to keep the oil flowing through Persian Gulf waters throughout the Iran-Iraq war. (International Herald Tribune)
Internet becomes Iraq's new matchmaker Aug 19, 2008
Tens and probably hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed since the 2003 US-led invasion, according to independent estimates, while an estimated one million people were killed in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war that ended in 1988. Fadi has not told her parents that she met Assir through the internet. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Technology)
US blamed for Iran's clout in Iraq Aug 15, 2008
It comprises largely Iraqi exiles, refugees and defectors who fought alongside Iran during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The US allowed the militia to return to Iraq after the invasion of 2003. (Asia Times Online)
Israel and Iran: A bridge too far? Aug 14, 2008
"The Iran-Contra affair, when Israel replenished Iran's inventory of arms during the Iran-Iraq War [in the 1980s], happened for a reason. It showed realpolitik instead of ideological noise ruling the policy-makers in Tehran and Tel Aviv, and the logic of limited cooperation - call it a temporary marriage of convenience back then - is not entirely absent today with the threats of terrorism, etc," added the Tehran political scientist ... Unfortunately, some Iran experts in the West have made a... (Asia Times Online)
Plot thickens in Denver death Aug 14, 2008
Saddam Hussein is accused of using it as a genocide agent against the Kurds in his own country during the Iran-Iraq war and it was a sodium cyanide bomb, capable of killing thousands, that was inadvertently sent to the wrong address in 2002 when it was meant to be delivered from a Texas white supremacist to a New Jersey white supremacist. kenneth. (Canoe.ca)
Jordan's king in first Iraq visit Aug 12, 2008
Jordan was an ally of Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and initially supported Baghdad after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, which triggered the first Gulf war. Are you in Iraq. (BBC News)
* Shiite Iran woos branch of Egyptian Sunni school Aug 12, 2008
Diplomatic ties were severed in 1980 a year after Irans Islamic revolution in protest at Egypt recognizing Israel, hosting the deposed shah and supporting Baghdad during the 1980 to 1988 Iran-Iraq war. Relations warmed recently, with both states signaling a willingness to restore ties. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Get Ready For The Last Oil War Aug 8, 2008
More closely related to Iran War posturing, disagreement is sharp and strong about the causes of the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88 ... The Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88 was already, at least in part a Chiite-Sunnite ethnic war. (Energy Pulse, CO)
Israeli pre-emption better than cure Aug 5, 2008
If Israel fails to act, the near-certain outcome will be regional war on a scale dwarfing the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. As in 1967, the Jewish state will be on its own, with reluctant support, if any at all, from its American ally. (Asia Times Online)
Iraqi PM makes first Syria visit Aug 5, 2008
For decades, the two countries promoted rival versions of Baathism - an Arab nationalism - and Syria sided with Iran in the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. A rapprochement was sealed in January with the visit of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to Damascus. (Yahoo News -- Syria)
Ahmadinejad: Iran won't give up nuclear rights... Aug 4, 2008
Syria is Iran's closest Arab ally - the two countries have had close relations since 1980, when Syria sided with Persian Iran against Iraq in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Iran's claims that it only wants nuclear technology for the production of energy have failed to quell Western suspicions that it is seeking a pathway to an atomic bomb. (The Drudge Report)
Best-selling espionage author at beach Tuesday Aug 4, 2008
He met his future wife, NBC reporter Jamie Gangel, while covering the Iran-Iraq War in 1987. 4. (Florida Times-Union)
Iran seeks entry to the lion's den Jul 31, 2008
But the Security Council does deserve praise for the areas in which it has been successful, in fulfilling the UN's mandate on issues of war and peace, such as ending the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s ... Iran's revolutionary leader, ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, agreed to the terms of Resolution 598, partly as a result of the increasing Americanization of the Iran-Iraq war and related concerns about "Iraq's imminent plans to launch chemical attacks on Iran's cities", to paraphrase former Iranian... (Asia Times Online)
Answer Girl: Oil and wine Jul 29, 2008
Odd fact: Kuwait supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, which took place from 1980 to 1988. As far as the history books tell, name-calling was not a major factor in the war. (Casper Star-Tribune, WY)
Alireza Jafarzadeh: IRGC Revamps To Counter Enemy... Jul 25, 2008
Khamenei found he had no option but to purge most of the commanders of the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and replace them with post-war commanders ... General, which means they were lower-ranking officers during the Iran-Iraq war ... Speaking at a ceremony introducing the new commander of Tehran's paramilitary Bassij Force (tasked with internal security), Jafari said that "in the past few years" there had been "negligence" about "domestic security" in the IRGC. Calling for a reorganization and review... (Fox News)
A talk with Orit Bashkin Jul 20, 2008
BASHKIN: It's important to distinguish the period of today from before the Islamic revolution in Iran, and the Iran-Iraq war that aggravated the situation. You have radical Sunni Islam today, and a generation that grew up under sanctions, much poorer and less educated. (Boston Globe)
A reality check on Iran Jul 19, 2008
It noted that during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, living standards plummeted. Yet opposition to the war was muted because most Iranians rallied around the flag. (Asia Times Online)
Tehran open to US Interests Jul 18, 2008
The Islamic republic is turning 30, and has gained experience over the past three decades: the pragmatic management style of Hashemi Rafsanjani after the Iran-Iraq War [in the 1980s], the reformist movement, and now the conservatives in power. The regime has reached a point now where the best thing for it to do is to return to the pragmatic style of governance. (Asia Times Online)
America reaches gingerly to Iran Jul 18, 2008
RESOLUTION: A series of events -- the appearance of a more settled government in Iran, the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war and international pressure including a broad economic embargo -- led to a negotiated resolution of the crisis. In exchange for lifting the embargo and unfreezing some of their assets, the Iranians released the hostages on the day of President Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Jan. 20, 1981. (News & Observer)
Full Story » Jul 13, 2008
Crude oil prices skyrocketed to $40 a barrel during the Iran-Iraq War that interrupted regular imports of Mid East petroleum to the United States. President Jimmy Carter made bold speeches calling for energy independence while motorists lined up at their neighborhood pumps again, with occasional fist fights breaking out from over-heated tempers. (Sebastopol Sonoma West Publishing, CA)
69 comments Jul 13, 2008
"Michael Ledeen, a consultant of National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, requested assistance from Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres for help in the sale of arms to Iran.[15] At the time, Iran was in the midst of the Iran-Iraq War and could find few Western nations willing to supply it with weapons.[16] The idea behind the plan was for Israel to ship weapons through an intermediary (identified as Manucher Ghorbanifar)[1] to a moderate, politically influential Iranian group opposed to the... (Human Events Online)
Baghdad's Grasp on Iraq's South Jul 8, 2008
At a nearby graveyard filled with garbage, the police uncovered a small collection of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and mortars rusty remnants of the Iran-Iraq war, which Moussawi said militants now pack with fresh explosives to reuse. The offensive has been tough, Amara's commanders say, but they're not going it alone. (Time.com)
Chronicles of Death Jul 6, 2008
The next morning began with a trip to the Unknown Soldiers' Museum, built in memory of Iraqi soldiers who died in the Iran-Iraq war ... If the Iran-Iraq war led to one museum, the Gulf War gave birth to a whole crop of them ... The Iran-Iraq war period is represented in this museum through women's eyes, not with swords or coffins but with pictures of women working outside the home, doing everything "that men did"out in the fields, flying planes, learning to shoot. (India Times, India)
From Alexander Cockburn Jul 5, 2008
Since early 2005, Iranian strategy has been centered on support for Shiite-dominated regime in Baghdad, because those governments were led by and dependent on the political support of loyal Iraqi agents of Iran s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the time the IRGC had created the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq and the Dawa Party in Iran during the Iran-Iraq War. The Baghdad regime, therefore, represents a joint U.S.-Iranian condominium. (Harper's Magazine)
'Weak' Iran ripe to be attacked Jul 2, 2008
They cite the US shoot-down of an Iranian passenger airliner in 1988, when Iran threatened retaliation but agreed to a ceasefire with then Iraqi president Saddam Hussein out of fear of a US entry into the Iran-Iraq war. The pro-Israel analysts further minimize the threat that Hezbollah would unleash its thousands of rockets against cities in northern Israel, which has long been regarded by Israel as Iran's single-most important deterrent to a US attack on its nuclear program. (Asia Times Online)
The Anthrax Fiasco Jul 1, 2008
Saddam Hussein had deployed chemical attacks in the Iran-Iraq war and against the Kurds. In 1995, Iraq admitted to U.N. weapons inspectors that it had added thousands of liters of anthrax and other toxins to its biological arsenal. (Wall Street Journal)
AMERICA'S FUTURE: Iraqi Airways Flying High Jun 28, 2008
But that was nearly three decades ago before the economically ruinous Iran-Iraq war, two other wars involving the United States and its allies, a no-fly zone and crippling U.N. sanctions. The long slide into decay was both painful and inevitable. (Fox News)
FACTBOX-The World's Oil Shocks Jun 26, 2008
Iran-Iraq war - Battle between the two major oil producers initially cut 4 million barrels per day from the market, or 8 percent of world demand. Oil averaged about US$37 in 1980. (Planet Ark, United States)
Protecting the Oil Supply Jun 26, 2008
The early 1980s brought the Carter Doctrine and the Iran-Iraq War ... When the Iranians attacked Kuwaiti tankers during the Iran-Iraq War back in the 1980s, Ronald Reagan decided to put U.S. flags on 11 of the tankers and defend them against such attacks. (Slate)
Huntsville 2010: Welcome to the black-fly summit Jun 20, 2008
1988 - Toronto Middle East conflicts, primarily the Iran-Iraq war and Arab-Israeli violence, draw the most discussion. Apartheid in South Africa prompts condemnation. (Globe and Mail)
In Saudi Oil Output Discussions, The Old Clout Will Be Missing Jun 20, 2008
When the Iran-Iraq war sent oil prices soaring in the early 1980s, for instance, the U.S. helped cajole Saudi Arabia to widen its spigots and calm the markets. Oil companies in the North Sea and Alaska also came on strong with big supplies, causing a glut that lasted into the 1990s. (Yahoo News -- Oil and Gas)
Francona: Iran right in concern about Iraq-U.S. relations Jun 18, 2008
Despite the losses suffered by many Shiite families in the Iran-Iraq war, most Shiites have a favorable view of Iran, one the few majority Shiite countries in the world. More from analyst Rick Francona. (MSNBC -- Terrorism)
Iraqi Oil Ministry invites bids for 3 new tankers Jun 16, 2008
The country's fleet of oil tankers also was devastated by tit-for-tat shelling during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war and by attacks during the 1991 U.S.-led Gulf War that followed Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. Last year, Iraq signed a US$65 million contract with China to buy three oil tankers to help ease the export problems. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Republican National Committee: Obama Fundraising Hypocrisy Jun 15, 2008
"'Women are worse off now than they were under Saddam,' Evans said flatly. 'One million widows from the Iran-Iraq War have been evicted from their state-subsidised housing, rape is widespread, there's a 70 percent unemployment rate and a lot of abuse in the home that didn't exist before.'" (Katherine Stapp, "Int'l Women's Day," Inter Press Service, 3/5/04) In 2003 Evans Called The Invasion Of Iraq A "Global Testosterone Poisoning." "'When the world is on the brink of being consumed by global... (PR Newswire)
Militias Gone But Fear Remains In Basra Jun 13, 2008
Amarah, a stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia about 100 miles north of Basra, is separated from the Islamic Republic by marshes that have been used by smugglers for centuries and were drained by Saddam Hussein after the Iran-Iraq war. "The heads of these militias left the area. They either went to Iran or other southern theaters," said Brig. (CBS News)
Kidnapped, threatened, Iraqi doctor won't abandon post Jun 13, 2008
"Kurukchi and his wife settled into a modest villa with a neatly tended garden out front. Their life was comfortable, though Kurukchi was under constant pressure to join Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. He refused, a risky stance that was forgiven largely because he was part of a team that treated Saddam's wife, Sajda, for 10 years.The doctor managed to avoid Saddam's brutal whimsy, but Iraq could not. The Iran-Iraq war exhausted the country's stockpiled medicine and doctors' salaries dropped... (Anchorage Daily News)
Oil Shock and Awe Jun 10, 2008
Today's Oil Spike Doesn't Bode Return to '70s (Wachovia, Exxon Mobil, United States Gasoline Fund, United States Oil Fund) at SmartMoney (SmartMoney)
Foreign affairs Jun 7, 2008
Esler is very good on Burnett's uneasy association with the threatening David Hickox, a neocon figure in the US adminstration who implicates Burnett in arms dealing during the Iran-Iraq war. Here is one more reminder of US support for Saddam Hussein prior to the invasion of Kuwait. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
The Battle for the Golan Jun 6, 2008
It did not join the Sadat peace initiative in the late 1970s; it backed Iran in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s; it did not move closer to the West after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s; and over the past decade it has gravitated towards Iran. "Radicalism is not one of the options for Syria. It is the essence of what the Syrian regime is all about," Schueftan asserts. (Jerusalem Post, Israel)
An Iranian voice in the wilderness Jun 5, 2008
Saddam Hussein exploited the MEK's fervor during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. In addition to providing the group with a sanctuary on Iraqi soil, Saddam supplied the MEK with weapons, tanks and armored vehicles, logistical support and training at the group's Camp Ashraf in Diyala province near the Iranian border and other camps across Iraqi territory. (Asia Times Online)
Iranian filmmaker bridges deep political divides with irreverence Jun 4, 2008
Masoud Dehnamaki, a former militant, has broken box-office records with his irreverent film about the Iran-Iraq war ... Tehran, Iran - Masoud Dehnamaki's office is no longer made up to resemble the front line of the Iran-Iraq war, with sandbags, helmets, and gas masks and a sign requiring preprayer ablutions before entering ... Today, those right-wing credentials are enabling the war veteran-turned-film director to challenge prevailing myths about the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, an event... (Christian Science Monitor)
Louise Firouz, 74; American expatriate credited with saving Caspian horses from extinction Jun 1, 2008
Her work became urgent during the Islamic Revolution of the late 1970s and the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, when the Iranian government auctioned off most of the breed or used the animals to detect land mines ... During the next several years of political strife, which included the start of the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, the Firouzes lost the bulk of their possessions and were briefly jailed. (Boston Globe)
Iraq asks creditors to cancel $60-billion debts May 30, 2008
The U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) said this month that the Gulf states, which supported Iraq during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, were resisting writing off Iraq's debts. About $66. (Globe and Mail -- International)
Arab states still wary of investing in Iraq May 30, 2008
Gulf Arab states, which helped fund the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, hold about half the country's remaining outstanding foreign debt. About $66. (Christian Science Monitor)
Supply-demand imbalance boosts oil prices May 27, 2008
The last time oil prices hit a historic high - in 1981, after oil industry deregulation and the start of the Iran-Iraq War - production didn't rise for the next five years. By the end of the decade, the market was swamped with crude, leading to years of low prices for both oil and gasoline. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Business)
Understanding Why We Hate: Is it Nature or Nurture? May 27, 2008
A study of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, the Cold War, the recent presidential election fiasco in Kenya, the ongoing political turmoil in Zimbabwe, among other notorious examples, reveals a clear trend of us versus them in each instance. A few years ago, an item on Dateline NBC, in the United States, discussed the role of the black male in American society. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
EDITOR’S MAILBAG (May 21) May 24, 2008
" EH wrote on May 22, 2008 9:18 PM:" EDS Two Exocet antiship missiles fired from an Iraqi Mirage Fl fighter during the Iran-Iraq War struck the USS Stark (FFG-31) on May 17, 1987 with 37 seamen slain. Here in 1987 a sovereign nation (Iraq) fired upon a U.S. war ship. (Albany Democrat-Herald, OR)
Mythmaking for the Next War May 22, 2008
The United States helped overthrow a democratically elected Iranian government in 1953 and provided aid to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. If Iran sees an interest in bleeding the U.S. military, that is likely a defensive response to the presence of an avowed enemy on its border rather than a sign of aggressive intent. (Townhall.com)
Tehran is Winning May 21, 2008
Tehran will not back down from its goal of an Iranian puppet government in Baghdad because that would virtually guarantee the Sunnis remain on the fringes of power and the Iraqi military will never again become powerful enough to threaten Iran as it did in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. Besides, a pro Iranian government in Iraq would also further insultate Iran from international sanctions, to which it already seems almost impervious, as is indicated by her nuclear program. (Human Events Online)
Would Obama Turn His back on Israel? May 21, 2008
The resulting overthrow of the shah by Islamist theocrats begat the Iran-Iraq war and its slaughter of at least half a million people, as well as the emergence of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in command of the world's fourth largest military. Carters self-righteous incompetence and weakness also invited the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which begat an Islamist resistance using terrorist tactics, one of whose leaders was a millionaire Saudi playboy named Osama bin Laden. (Newsmax)
