Arab Position on the First Gulf War, 1980-1988

Abstract

This paper which is entitled (Arab position on the first Gulf War, 1980-1988) summarizes the real reasons for the outbreak of the Iraq-Iran War, the border dispute, and the crisis in political relations between the two countries, which led to a reduction in the level of diplomatic representation after the start of the war on 4 September 1980 by bombing border areas, which caused Iraq to revoke the Algiers Agreement between the two states in 1975 and to consider the Shatt al-Arab as part of Iraq's territorial waters. Besides, it affected the interests of the two parties, specifically oil interests, represented by disruption of oil ports, which defined the determinants of this war, which was one of the wars of the Middle East with a difficult equation in terms of beginnings and endings of the nature and interests of each country with the world. According to these facts, Iraq declared on 22 September 1980 the beginning of the war, after an eight-year fight to end on 8 August 1988, to set a model for a long military war, which had taken a heavy toll on both countries to draw a new policy and strategy in the Middle East region. This has been demonstrated by the Arab position on this war, which has been supported and rejected, as well as by other global positions, some of which have been consistent and changing, as it has changed the general framework for clear support for the parties to the conflict and international developments in the Arab region, which have defined the status of the two States in the world and the extent of their political influence and its consequences.