page_title: Iranian Revolution
section_title: Persian Gulf and the Iran–Iraq War
hierarchical_section_title: Iranian Revolution / International impact / Persian Gulf and the Iran–Iraq War
caption_attribution_description: فارسی: روی سکه 20 ریالی ضرب شده در سال 1982 میلادی به مناسبت سومین سالگرد انقلاب 1979 ایرانEnglish: Obverse of Iranian 20 Rials coin - monument of 3rd anniversary of Islamic revolution - 1979
context_page_description: The Iranian Revolution was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi—who was supported by the United States—and the replacement of his government with an Islamic republic under the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a leader of one of the factions in the revolt. The revolution was supported by various Islamist and leftist organizations and student movements.
  Demonstrations against the Shah commenced in October 1977, developing into a campaign of civil resistance that included both secular and religious elements. The protests rapidly intensified in 1978 as a result of the burning of Rex Cinema which was seen as the main cause of the Revolution, and between August and December that year, strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country. The Shah left Iran in exile on 16 January 1979, as the last Persian monarch, leaving his duties to a regency council and Shapour Bakhtiar, who was an opposition-based prime minister. Ayatollah Khomeini was invited back to Iran by the government, and returned to Tehran to a greeting by several million Iranians.
context_section_description: Supporters of the revolution both within and outside of Iran began calling for the overthrow of monarchies in the region and for them to be replaced by Islamic republics. This alarmed many of Iran's neighbours, particularly Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia as well as Western nations dependent on Middle Eastern oil for their energy needs.
  In September 1980, Iraq took advantage of the febrile situation and invaded Iran. At the centre of Iraq's objectives was the annexation of the East Bank of the Shaat Al-Arab waterway that makes up part of the border between the two nations and which had been the site of numerous border skirmishes between the two countries going back to the late 1960s. The president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, also wanted to annex the Iranian province of Khuzestan which had (and still has) a high population of Iranian Arabs. There was also concern that a Shia-centric revolution in Iran may stimulate a similar uprising in Iraq, where the country's Sunni minority ruled over the Shia majority.
  Hussein was confident that with Iraq's armed forces being well-equipped with new technology and with high morale would enjoy a decisive strategic advantage against an Iranian military that had recently had much of its command officers purged following the Revolution. Iran was also struggling to find replacement parts for much of its US- and British-supplied equipment. Hussein believed that victory would therefore come swiftly.
  However Iran was "galvanized" by the invasion and the populace of Iran rallied behind their new government in an effort to repel the invaders. After some early successes, the Iraqi invasion stalled and was then repelled and by 1982, Iran had recaptured almost all her territories. In June 1982, with Iraqi forces all but expelled from Iranian territory, the Iraqi government offered a ceasefire. This was rejected by Khomeini, who declared that the only condition for peace was that "the regime in Baghdad must fall and must be replaced by an Islamic republic,".
  The war would continue for another six years during which time countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states provided financial assistance to Iraq in an effort to prevent an Iranian victory, even though their relations with Iraq were often hostile - Kuwait itself was invaded by Iraq 2 years after the peace agreement between Iraq and Iran was signed.
  Like the hostage crisis, the war served in part as an opportunity for the government to strengthen revolutionary ardour and revolutionary groups; the Revolutionary Guard and committees at the expense of its remaining allies-turned-opponents, such as the MEK. While enormously costly and destructive, the war "rejuvenate[d] the drive for national unity and Islamic revolution" and "inhibited fractious debate and dispute" in Iran.
caption: Obverse of Iranian 20 Rials coin – monument of 3rd anniversary of Iranian Revolution
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