978-1-4222-3442-6

110

I RAQ

The Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became Iran’s Supreme Leader in 1979. Khomeini’s attempts to export radical Islamic fundamen- talism contributed to Saddam Hussein’s decision to launch a war against Iran the following year.

happy to get rid of Khomeini. However, he could not have been happy to see this enemy become the leader of a neighboring nation with more than twice as many people as Iraq. Saddam Hussein may have decided to go to war with Iran in 1980 because the new Iranian government was not yet stable, and he hoped to weaken or destroy Khomeini’s power. The Iran-Iraq War devastated both countries. After eight years of fighting, neither side had made significant territorial gains, and Iraq’s economy had nearly been ruined. Yet after the two countries agreed to peace terms set by the United Nations, Saddam Hussein often boasted of his “victory” over Iran. However, the only reason the war might be considered a victory for Iraq is that Iran was weakened and its gov- ernment lost the support of some of its people because of the sufferings caused by the war.