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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iran
Index
Beginning in 1984, Baghdad's military goal changed from
controlling Iranian territory to denying Tehran any major gain
inside Iraq. Furthermore, Iraq tried to force Iran to the
negotiating table by various means. First, President Saddam Husayn
sought to increase the war's manpower and economic cost to Iran.
For this purpose, Iraq purchased new weapons, mainly from the
Soviet Union and France. Iraq also completed the construction of
what came to be known as "killing zones" (which consisted primarily
of artificially flooded areas near Basra) to stop Iranian units. In
addition, according to Jane's Defence Weekly and other
sources, Baghdad used chemical weapons against Iranian troop
concentrations and launched attacks on many economic centers.
Despite Iraqi determination to halt further Iranian progress,
Iranian units in March 1984 captured parts of the Majnun Islands,
whose oil fields had economic as well as strategic value.
Second, Iraq turned to diplomatic and political means. In April
1984, Saddam Husayn proposed to meet Khomeini personally in a
neutral location to discuss peace negotiations. But Tehran rejected
this offer and restated its refusal to negotiate with President
Husayn.
Third, Iraq sought to involve the superpowers as a means of
ending the war. The Iraqis believed this objective could be
achieved by attacking Iranian shipping. Initially, Baghdad used
borrowed French Super Etendard aircraft armed with Exocets. In 1984
Iraq returned these airplanes to France and purchased approximately
thirty Mirage F-1 fighters equipped with Exocet missiles. Iraq
launched a new series of attacks on shipping on February 1, 1984
(see The Tanker War
, this ch.)
Data as of December 1987
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