The Iran-Iraq War lasted for eight years and resulted in catastrophic destruction in both countries. Because both Iran and Iraq used irregular military units, attacked civilian populations, and played down their own losses while playing up those of their opponents, reliable casualty figures do not exist. For example, Iran claimed to have lost 200,000 or fewer of its own citizens, while Iraq claimed to have killed 800,000 Iranians. Neutral estimates come closer to the Iranian claim but are uncertain. Because of different battlefield techniques, Iraq's deaths were probably about half those suffered by Iran. The total number of people killed almost certainly exceeds 300,000. Wounded and captured soldiers push the casualty total over one million, and some estimates of total casualties exceed two million.

The war was also extremely destructive to each country's economy. Estimates vary, but the war's total cost, including military supplies and civilian damages, probably exceeded $500 billion for each side. Both Iran and Iraq sacrificed their considerable oil wealth to the war for nearly a decade, and Iraq was forced to borrow heavily, especially from its allies on the Arabian Peninsula.

Remarkably, the war led to no tremendous political change in either country. Despite having led his country into a disastrous military conflict, Hussein emerged from the war more secure than before; he even claimed the Iranian failure to unseat him represented a tremendous Iraqi victory. The Iranian government could have ended the war in 1982 on only marginally different terms from those obtained six years later, yet the ensuing years of fruitless struggle consolidated rather than undermined Iranian popular support for the Islamic republic.

Internationally, the war resolved few issues between the two countries. Although Resolution 598 called for both sides to withdraw to the prewar border, release prisoners, and negotiate all outstanding issues, these terms proved difficult to implement and negotiations remained deadlocked for two years. In some ways the Iran-Iraq War contributed to the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War II in 1991: It left Iraq with a strong army and large debts to Arab nations, including Kuwait. Iraq cited Kuwait's refusal to forgive Iraq's war debt as one reason for invading its oil-rich neighbor. Only when Iraq was forced into desperate straits during the Gulf War did it move to repair its relationship with Iran. Iraq withdrew from Iranian territory, agreed to restore the 1975 border, and engaged in a large-scale prisoner exchange. Both sides charged the other with retaining some prisoners, however, and the border demarcation remained incomplete. A decade after the 1988 cease-fire, Iran and Iraq had yet to settle these differences.

Contributed By:Nathan J. Brown, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University. Author of The Rule of Law in the Arab World: Courts, Politics, and Society in Egypt and the Arab Gulf States.

The Iran Iraq War: Economic Opportunities Lost

The Iran Iraq war, per capita one of the bloodiest and longest of this century, is now in its sixth year, with no end in sight. Financial and manpower losses are running high on both sides. Several European Mideast experts have estimated total casualties at close to one million. A more conservative estimate by a U.S. Government analyst last September indicated that the number of deaths in the war had reached 350,000, with Iranian losses 250,000 of that total. Given the small Iraqi population of only 15 million and the Iranian population of 42 million, these losses represent a significant percentage of the youth of both nations, who normally would be entering the workforce or undertaking higher education. 

The two nations' bountiful oil income traditionally allocated to industrial and agricultural development, medical facilities and to the raising of educational and living standards goes now to pay for aircraft, artillery, ammunition, and other necessities of war. While the leaders of both nations claim they have the full support of their citizens and that morale is high, foreign experts question how long the populations of these two countries will tolerate the squandering of non renewable oil resources on a costly war that does not involve any serious national interest on either side. Source:(http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/012786/860127006.html)