Editing Saddam Hussein (section)

==== Background ====
[[File:1988 01 29-Rajavi-Saddam-Iran-Liberation.jpeg|left|thumb|Saddam and [[Massoud Rajavi]], the leader of [[People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran]], 1987]]
In early 1979, Iran's Shah [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]]'s [[Pahlavi dynasty]] were overthrown by the [[Iranian Revolution|Islamic Revolution]], thus giving way to an Islamic republic led by Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini]].<ref name="HISTORY-2021">{{Cite web |date=13 July 2021 |title=Iran-Iraq War – Summary, Timeline & Legacy |url=https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/iran-iraq-war |access-date=14 February 2024 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref> The influence of revolutionary Shi'ite Islam grew apace in the region, particularly in countries with large Shi'ite populations, especially Iraq.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> Saddam feared that the radical Islamic ideas—hostile to his secular rule—were rapidly spreading inside his country among the majority Shi'ite population.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> Despite Saddam's fears of massive unrest, Iran's attempts to [[The policy of exporting the Islamic Revolution|export its Islamic Revolution]] were largely unsuccessful in rallying support from Shi'ites in Iraq and the [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf|Gulf states]].<ref name="PIRRR">Esposito, John, "Political Islam Revolution, Radicalism, or Reform", ''Political Islam and Gulf Security'', Lynne Rienner Publishers, {{ISBN|978-1-55587-262-5}}, pp. 56–58</ref> Most Iraqi Shi'ites, who comprised the majority of the Iraqi Armed Forces, chose their own country over their Shi'ite Iranian coreligionists during the war that ensued.<ref name="PIRRR" />

There had also been bitter enmity between Saddam and Khomeini since the 1970s.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> Khomeini, having been exiled from Iran in 1964, took up residence in Iraq, at the Shi'a holy city of [[Najaf]].<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> There he involved himself with Iraqi Shi'as and developed a strong religious and political following against the Iranian government, which Saddam tolerated.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> When Khomeini began to urge the Shi'ites there to overthrow Saddam and under pressure from the Shah, who had agreed to a rapprochement between Iraq and Iran in 1975, Saddam agreed to expel Khomeini in 1978 to France.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> Here, Khomeini gained media connections and collaborated with a much larger Iranian community, to his advantage.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> After Khomeini gained power, skirmishes between Iraq and revolutionary Iran occurred for ten months over the sovereignty of the disputed [[Shatt al-Arab]] waterway, which divides the two countries.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /> During this period, Saddam publicly maintained that it was in Iraq's interest not to engage with Iran, and that it was in the interests of both nations to maintain peaceful relations.<ref name="HISTORY-2021" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=לרון |first=ד"ר גיא |date=2021-09-23 |title=ואולי סדאם חוסיין היה פחות מטורף ממה שחשבנו |url=https://www-ynet-co-il.translate.goog/news/article/s1xedykxk?_x_tr_sl=iw&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc&_x_tr_hist=true |access-date=2025-02-02 |work=Ynet |language=he}}</ref>

The outbreak of the [[Iran–Iraq War|war]] in September 1980 was preceded by a long period of tension between the two countries throughout 1979 and 1980, including frequent border skirmishes, calls by Khomeini for the Shia Muslims in Iraq to revolt against the ruling Ba'ath Party, and allegations of Iraqi support for ethnic separatists in Iran.<ref>{{cite book|last=Emery|first=Chris|title=The Iran-Iraq War: New International Perspectives|chapter=Reappraising the Carter Administration's response to the Iran-Iraq war|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year=2013|isbn=978-0-415-68524-5}}</ref> There were frequent clashes along the Iran–Iraq border throughout 1980, with Iraq publicly complaining of at least 544 incidents and Iran citing at least 797 violations of its border and airspace.<ref name="Cambridge University Press">{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Williamson|last2=Woods|first2=Kevin M.|title=The Iran–Iraq War, A Military and Strategic History|chapter=A context of 'bitterness and anger'|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2014|isbn=978-1107062290|pages=58–59 (e-book, page numbers approximate)}}</ref> On 1 April 1980, the [[Islamic Dawa Party]], an Iraqi Islamist group with supportive ties to Iran, attempted to assassinate [[Tariq Aziz]], Iraq's then deputy prime minister at the [[University of Baghdad]] campus, in retaliation for a 30 March decree declaring "membership of Dawa [to be] a capital offense".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Williamson|last2=Woods|first2=Kevin M.|title=The Iran–Iraq War, A Military and Strategic History|chapter=A context of 'bitterness and anger'|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2014|isbn=978-1107062290|pages=57–58 (e-book, page numbers approximate)}}</ref> On 30 April, Iraq organized [[Iranian Embassy siege|an attack on the Iranian embassy in London]].<ref name="Cambridge University Press"/> On 10 September 1980, Iraq forcibly reclaimed territories in Zain al-Qaws and Saif Saad that it had been promised under the terms of the 1975 Algiers Agreement but that Iran had never handed over, leading to both Iran and Iraq voiding the treaty, on 14 September and 17 September, respectively.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Williamson|last2=Woods|first2=Kevin M.|title=The Iran–Iraq War, A Military and Strategic History|chapter=A context of 'bitterness and anger'|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2014|isbn=978-1107062290|pages=62–63 (e-book, page numbers approximate)|quote=On 7 September 1980, Iraq accused Iran of shelling Iraqi villages in the territories of Zain al-Qaws and Saif Saad on 4 September 1980. Iraq demanded that the Iranian forces in those territories evacuate and return the villages to Iraq. Tehran gave no reply. Iraqi forces then moved to 'liberate' the villages, and on 10 September announced that its forces had done so in a short, sharp military engagement.&nbsp;... On 14 September 1980, Iran announced it would no longer abide by the 1975 Algiers Agreement. Given the scene that was set, it was no surprise that on 17 September, five days before the invasion, Iraq declared the accords null and void.&nbsp;... On 22 September, Iraqi units crossed the frontier.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-link=Kanan Makiya|last=Makiya|first=Kanan|title=Republic of Fear: The Politics of Modern Iraq|edition=Updated|url=https://archive.org/details/republicoffearpo00maki|url-access=registration|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|year=1998|isbn=978-0520921245|page=270}}</ref>