The Middle East saw several conflicts during this era. The Iran-Iraq War, pitted the new Islamic revolutionary government of Iran against the Iraqi Baathist state led by Saddam Hussein. Despite fighting an Iraq that was armed by both the Soviet Union and the West, Iran fought the invaders to a standstill. The war remained a stalemate until 1988, when a "status quo ante-bellum" cease-fire was arranged between the two parties. The war had claimed the lives of over a million people.