Editing Iran–Iraq War (section)

===Iraq===
{{See also|French support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War|Italian support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war|British support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War}}

[[File:Mi24 tehran.jpg|thumb|right|An Iraqi Mil Mi-24 on display at the military museum of [[Sa'dabad Complex|Sa'dabad Palace]] in Iran]]

According to the Stockholm International Peace Institute, the [[Soviet Union]], France, and China together accounted for over 90% of the value of Iraq's arms imports between 1980 and 1988.<ref>[http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/values.php SIPRI Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728025517/http://armstrade.sipri.org/armstrade/page/values.php |date=28 July 2011 }} Indicates that of $29,079&nbsp;million of arms exported to Iraq from 1980 to 1988 the Soviet Union accounted for $16,808&nbsp;million, France $4,591&nbsp;million, and China $5,004&nbsp;million (Info must be entered)</ref>

The United States pursued policies in favour of Iraq by reopening diplomatic channels, lifting restrictions on the export of [[dual-use technology]], overseeing the transfer of third-party military hardware, and providing operational intelligence on the battlefield{{Citation needed|date=December 2023|reason=}}. France, which from the 1970s had been one of Iraq's closest allies, was a major supplier of military hardware.<ref name=bulloch89 />{{rp|184–185|date=November 2012}} The French sold weapons equal to $5&nbsp;billion, which made up well over a quarter of Iraq's total arms stockpile.<ref name=bulloch89 />{{rp|184–185|date=November 2012}} Citing French magazine ''Le Nouvel Observateur'' as the primary source, but also quoting French officials, ''The New York Times'' reported [[France]] had been sending chemical precursors of [[chemical weapons]] to Iraq, since 1986.<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE3DA153EF932A1575AC0A966958260|title=Confrontation in the Gulf; French Reportedly Sent Iraq Chemical War Tools|date=21 September 1990|first=Youssef M.|last=Ibrahim|website=The New York Times|access-date=1 January 2019|archive-date=13 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613032632/https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE3DA153EF932A1575AC0A966958260|url-status=live}}</ref> China, which had no direct stake in the victory of either side and whose interests in the war were entirely commercial, freely sold arms to both sides.<ref name=bulloch89 />{{rp|185, 187–188, 192–193|date=November 2012}}

Iraq also made extensive use of [[front organization|front companies]], middlemen, secret ownership of all or part of companies all over the world, forged [[end-user certificate]]s, and other methods to hide what it was acquiring. Some transactions may have involved people, shipping, and manufacturing in as many as 10 countries.<ref name="UNSCOM-D">{{citation|title=UNSCOM's Comprehensive Review|author=United Nations Special Commission|section=Annex D: Actions by Iraq to Obstruct Disarmament|publisher=James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies|url=http://cns.miis.edu/iraq/ucreport/dis_acti.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103191459/http://cns.miis.edu/iraq/ucreport/dis_acti.htm|archive-date=3 January 2013}}</ref> [[British support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war|Support from Great Britain]] exemplified the methods by which Iraq would circumvent export controls. Iraq bought at least one British company with operations in the United Kingdom and the United States, and had a complex relationship with France and the Soviet Union, its major suppliers of actual weapons.

Turkey took action against the Kurds in 1986, alleging they were attacking the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] (PKK), which prompted a harsh diplomatic intervention by Iran, which planned a new offensive against Iraq at the time and were counting on the support of Kurdish factions.<ref>Entessar, Nader (1992), p. 134</ref>

Sudan supported Iraq directly during the war, sending a contingent to fight at the frontlines. The Sudanese unit consisted to a large degree of Ugandan refugees from the [[West Nile sub-region|West Nile Region]], recruited by [[Juma Oris]].{{sfn|Leopold|2005|p=44}}

The [[United Nations Security Council]] initially called for a cease-fire after a week of fighting while Iraq was occupying Iranian territory, and renewed the call on later occasions. However, the UN did not come to Iran's aid to repel the Iraqi invasion, and the Iranians thus interpreted the UN as subtly biased in favour of Iraq.<ref name="encarta88" />

====Financial support====
Iraq's main financial backers were the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, most notably [[Saudi Arabia]] ($30.9&nbsp;billion), [[Kuwait]] ($8.2&nbsp;billion), and the [[United Arab Emirates]] ($8&nbsp;billion).{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} In all, Iraq received $35&nbsp;billion in loans from the West and between $30 and $40&nbsp;billion from the Persian Gulf states during the 1980s.<ref name="ISGfunding">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/iraq_wmd_2004/chap2_annxD.html#use-of-illicit-smuggling|title=Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI [Director of Central Intelligence] on Iraq's WMD|date=27 April 2007|volume=1 of 3|chapter=Annex D: Iraq Economic Data (1989–2003)|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|access-date=3 November 2012|archive-date=1 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101151425/https://www.cia.gov/library/reports/general-reports-1/iraq_wmd_2004/chap2_annxD.html#use-of-illicit-smuggling|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[United States support for Iraq during the Iran–Iraq war#Banca Nazionale del Lavoro|Iraqgate]] scandal revealed that an American branch of Italy's largest bank, [[Banca Nazionale del Lavoro]] (BNL) relied partially on U.S. taxpayer-guaranteed loans to funnel $5&nbsp;billion to Iraq from 1985 to 1989. In August 1989, when [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] agents raided the Atlanta branch of BNL, branch manager Christopher Drogoul was charged with making unauthorised, clandestine, and illegal loans to Iraq—some of which, according to his indictment, were used to purchase arms and weapons technology.<ref name="FAS">{{cite report|title=The Administration's Iraq Gate Scandal|first=William|last=Safire|date=19 May 1992|publisher=Congressional Record|url=https://fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1992/h920519l.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620160547/https://fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1992/h920519l.htm|archive-date=20 June 2015|via=Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> According to the ''[[Financial Times]]'', [[Hewlett-Packard]], [[Tektronix]], and [[Arms-to-Iraq|Matrix Churchill]]'s branch in [[Ohio]] were among the companies shipping militarily useful technology to Iraq under the eye of the U.S. government.