The Struggles of Iraq's Ethnic Groups and the Iran-Iraq War

In September 1980, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces invaded neighbouring Iran and so began the longest conventional war in modern history. After initial Iraqi successes, a brutal stalemate set in that was reminiscent of the horrors of the First World War. The Iraq-Iran War saw the use of chemical warfare, in 1984 Saddam’s forces unleashed the first recorded use of nerve gas in battle, and there was grinding trench warfare. Iran also pioneered human wave attacks, which merely added to the extreme human toll this war took. After eight long years a ceasefire was reached but both nations were left financially and militarily exhausted. Listen as Anita and William explore this horrific and often forgotten conflict.

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Producer: Callum Hill

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