Iraq Invades Iran — Iran-Iraq War Begins

On September 22, 1980, Iraqi forces invaded Iran along their shared border. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein aimed to seize Iran's oil-rich Khuzestan province and prevent the spread of Khomeini's Islamic revolution to Iraq's Shia majority. The war lasted eight years with no territorial change. Deaths exceeded an estimated one million. Iraq used chemical weapons against Iranian forces beginning in 1983. The United States provided Iraq with satellite intelligence, military equipment, and diplomatic support, removing Iraq from its terrorism sponsor list in 1982. A ceasefire took effect in August 1988.