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Shatt Al-Iran War Causes

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Origins and Causes of Wars
Long-Term Causes With the ostentatious objective to establish superiority and power, Saddam Hussein, then the current leader of Iraq, attacked Iran on September 22, 1980. Fueled by centuries of increasing tensions from territorial disputes, religious differences, and resentment the Iran-Iraq War continued for the next 8 years. The unabating conflict that led to the Iran-Iraq War has its origins in tensions dating back to the ancient conflicts between the Persian and Ottoman empires for territories and power in the Middle East. These conflicts were concentrated about the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway that was often used to separate the two territories (Rajaee 17). Based on this pretense that the original ownership …show more content…

Of these several areas were the Shatt al-Arab waterway, Khuzistan, and lands that would aid the nation in territorial expansion. The placement of the Shatt al-Arab waterway was strategic in that it connected the Persian Gulf with the Iranian ports of Khorramshahr and Abadan (Hume 26). The Shatt al-Arab and its position has economic importance for both countries. The sole Iraqi port with any economic significance is Basra which is situated along the Shatt al-Arab. Along the Shatt al-Arab, are “export pipelines for petroleum which run along the Shatt al-Arab's river bank with a crude oil depository located at al'Faw near the estuary of the river on the Persian Gulf”. Also an essential port located near the Shatt al-Arab is the Iranian Port of Khorramshahr as it also serves as a rail-head for the Trans-Iranian railroad system (Geller …show more content…

The war became a national effort and with this came several economic and social changes. Prior to the war in the 1970's, the Iraqi economy, began to flourish with the decision to nationalize their oil in 1972. Iraq reached a record in oil production by producing over 3 million barrels per day. Though, by the time the Iran-Iraq War began to deteriorate their economy by the early 1980's, their oil production had plummeted to around 800,000 barrels per day. By the end of the war, Iraq had accumulated a debt of over 100 billion dollars. The war also affected Iran and its economy as most of Its oil sectors were mostly located near the war areas constantly attacked by Iraq. This became a bigger problem for Iran than it was for Iraq. During the earlier stages of the war, Iraq began to shift its exporting focus from the Gulf area to other areas as well. Iran on the other hand was heavily affected since they continued to heavily rely on exports throughout the Gulf areas. Throughout the war, both countries had accumulated a large amount of war debt, especially from arms providers. The two countries were billions of dollars in debt to their providers such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, most of which has still not been reimbursed

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