Editing Foreign relations of Iran (section)

===Iran–Iraq War===
{{See also|Iran–Iraq relations| Iran–Iraq War}}
Iranian relations with [[Iraq]] have never been good. They took a turn for the worse in 1980 when Iraq invaded Iran. The stated reason for Iraq's invasion was the contested sovereignty over the [[Shatt al-Arab]] waterway (''Arvand Rud'' in Persian). Other unstated reasons were probably more significant: Iran and Iraq had a history of interference in each other's affairs by supporting separatist movements, although this interference had ceased since the [[Algiers Agreement (1975)|Algiers Agreement]].

Iran demanded the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Iranian territory and the return to the ''status quo ante'' for the Shatt al-Arab, as established under the Algiers Agreement. This period saw Iran become even more isolated, with virtually no allies. Exhausted by the war, Iran signed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 598|UN Security Council Resolution 598]] in July 1988, after the United States and Germany began supplying [[Iraq]] with [[chemical weapon]]s. The ceasefire resulting from the UN resolution was implemented on 20 August 1988. Neither nation had made any real gains in the war, which left one million dead and had a dramatic effect on the country's foreign policy. From this point on, the Islamic Republic recognized that it had no choice but to moderate its radical approach and rationalize its objectives. This was the beginning of what Anoushiravan Ehteshami calls the "reorientation phase" of Iranian foreign policy.