International aid to combatants in the Iran–Iraq War
During the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq received large quantities of weapons and other material useful to the development of armaments and weapons of mass destruction.
Iran
Military support
Iran was backed by the Kurdish parties of KDP, and PUK, also the Islamist Kurdish Mujahideen in North Iraq, all organizations in fact rebelling against Iraqi Ba'athist government with Iranian support.
Logistic support
Iran's foreign supporters gradually came to include Syria and Libya, through which it obtained Scud missiles.[citation needed] It purchased large quantities of weaponry from North Korea and the People's Republic of China, notably the Silkworm anti-ship missile.[citation needed] It also acquired arms from Portugal,[citation needed] notably after 1984. It also acquired propellants and other weapons related components from Spain and Portugal.[citation needed] The United States also provided covert support for Iran through Israel, although it is debated as to whether U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered the sale of weapons to Iran. Most of this support included TOW missiles.[1]
Iraq
Military support
Iraq was supported by the People's Mujahedin of Iran, an armed group of Iranians opposing the Islamic Republic of Iran.[citation needed]
Logistic support
Iraq's army was primarily equipped with weaponry it had previously purchased from the Soviet Union and its satellites in the preceding decade. During the war, it also purchased billions of dollars' worth of advanced equipment from France, the People's Republic of China, Egypt, Germany and other sources.[2][better source needed] Iraq's three main suppliers of weaponry during the war were the Soviet Union followed by China and then France.[3]
The United States sold Iraq over $200 million in helicopters, which were used by the Iraqi military in the war. These were the only direct U.S.-Iraqi military sales. At the same time, the U.S. provided substantial covert support for Saddam Hussein. The CIA directed non-U.S. origin hardware to Saddam Hussein's armed forces, "to ensure that Iraq had sufficient military weapons, ammunition and vehicles to avoid losing the Iran-Iraq war."[4] And "dual use" technology was transferred from the U.S. to Iraq.
West Germany and United Kingdom also provided dual use technology that allowed Iraq to expand its missile program and radar defences.
According to an uncensored copy of Iraq's 11,000-page declaration to the U.N., leaked to Die Tageszeitung and reported by The Independent, the know-how and material for developing unconventional weapons were obtained from 150 foreign companies, from countries such as West Germany, the U.S., France, UK and China.[5]
Iraq's main financial backers were the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, most notably Saudi Arabia ($30.9 billion), Kuwait ($8.2 billion) and the United Arab Emirates ($8 billion).[6]
The Iraqgate scandal revealed that branch of Italy's largest bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, in Atlanta, US, relying largely on U.S. taxpayer-guaranteed loans, funneled $5 billion to Iraq from 1985 to 1989.
Countries which supported either combatant
| Country | Support to Iraq | Support to Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Sales of uranium, shells for 155mm artillery, rockets, radio equipments, 7,62mm ammunition, anti-tank rockets. | |
| Austria | Construction of munition plant. Sold 200 self-propelled 155mm artillery pieces[7][8] | Sold 140 GHN-45 Howitzers along with significant stocks of ammunition. Communications equipment.[9][8] |
| Belgium | Construction of airfields and delivery of various munitions[8] | Sold jet engines for F-4 Phantom aircraft. Delivered artillery shells and other munitions.[9][8] |
| Brazil | Sale of ammunition, armoured cars, and tactical multiple rocket launcher[10][11] | Major supplier (Sold 500 Cascavel and Urutu armored vehicles)[12]: 9 [9] |
| Canada | Sales of war material[7] | |
| People's Republic of China | Some financial support and military exports[13] | Sale of military equipment, including fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, rocket launchers, tanks, and artillery[14] |
| Denmark | Sales of military equipment[7] | |
| Egypt | Military exports[15] | |
| Ethiopia | Sold 12 F-5 Tiger IIs[9] | |
| France | Sale of high-tech military equipment and uranium[16] | Covert sales of large quantities of artillery shells (delivered 500,000 155mm and 203mm shells)[9] Delivery of 60 pieces of 106mm recoilless rifles[8] |
| East Germany | Sale of chemical weapons and high-tech military equipment[7][17] | Sales of spare parts for Soviet-made military equipment taken from Iraqi troops |
| West Germany | Sale of chemical weapons and high-tech military equipment. $600 million worth of Electronic countermeasure systems. 1500 trucks and spare parts depot. 300 tank recovery and construction vehicles.[18][8][17] | Chemical warfare defense equipment[19] Communications equipment, small arms, and munitions[8] |
| Greece | $119 million worth of armaments and munitions[8] | |
| Hungary | Sales of war materiel[7] | |
| Israel | Clandestine support | |
| Italy | Several billion dollars in funding; sale of land and sea mines as well as uranium[16] | Sale of land and sea mines[20] |
| Japan | Engineering equipment such as trucks, caterpillars and bulldozers, etc. | Engineering equipment such as trucks, loaders, backhoes, bulldozers, etc. and light trucks and SUVs. |
| Jordan | Acted as main supply line | |
| Netherlands | Optical equipment, including night vision devices for ground forces[8] | Sales of Chemical Warfare defense equipment.[9] |
| Norway | Fire and rescue vehicles[8] | Fire and rescue vehicles[8] |
| North Korea | North Korean support for Iran during the Iran–Iraq war Sold domestically-produced arms; acted as an intermediate for covert sales by the Soviet Union, Soviet satellites, and China. | |
| South Korea | $425 million worth of ammunition, jeeps, and quartermaster supplies[8] | Sold F-4 Phantom II parts, KH179 155 mm Towed Howitzer, and other heavy weapons.[9] |
| Kuwait | Financial support and conduit for arms sales[21][22] | |
| Libya | Armaments, munitions and ballistic missiles. | |
| Pakistan | Sold shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile; unaccountable and covert financial support for Iran by Pakistan | |
| Polish People's Republic | Sales of military materiel[7] | |
| Portugal | Sale of uranium and arms[16] | Sale of ammunition and explosives[12]: 8 |
| Qatar | Initial support,[23] though not openly[24] | |
| Socialist Republic of Romania | Sales of military materiel[7] | |
| Saudi Arabia | $20 billion in funding | |
| Singapore | Provided chemical warfare precursors; acted as a transshipment point for weapons; was manufacturing site of foreign-designed weapons | |
| South Africa | Sale of military armament (200 G5 155mm Artillery systems)[25] | 30 G5 155mm Artillery systems[9] |
| Soviet Union | Military equipment and advisors | Covert military equipment sales |
| Spain | Sale of conventional and chemical weapons, especially ammunition and explosives[26] | Sale of weapons, especially ammunition and explosives[12]: 8 [26] Delivered 200 106mm recoilless rifles[8] |
| Sudan | Sent a small contingent of troops to fight alongside Iraqi troops[27] | |
| Syria | Armaments, munitions and ballistic missiles. | |
| Sweden | Covert sales of RBS-70 surface-to-air missile system, facilities/equipment/explosives/materiel for local weapons manufacturing, and fast-attack boats.[9] | |
| Switzerland | Sales of war material and Sales of chemical warfare equipment, also delivered 30 Bravo and Pilatus trainer aircraft[7][8] | Chemical Warfare defense equipment[19] Delivered 15 PC-6 propeller utility aircraft and 47 PC-7 propeller training aircraft, as well as Cryptology equipment, large quantities of ammunition, and electronic components for radars.[9] |
| Turkey | Sold armaments | |
| United Arab Emirates | Financial aid[21][28] | |
| United Kingdom | Weapons-related equipment and ‘Sodium cyanide for chemical weapons and plutonium and gas spectrometers’ | Sales of Chemical Warfare defense equipment.[9] Chieftain tank engines and artillery shells[8] |
| United States | Several billion dollars worth of economic aid; the sale of dual-use technology and non-U.S. origin weaponry; military intelligence; Special Operations training | Secret arms sales (Iran-Contra affair) |
| Yugoslavia | Weapons sales (more than $2 billion worth),[29] construction of five large airbases with hardened underground aircraft shelters by the Yugoslav construction company Energoprojekt. | |
| Vietnam | Sold American-produced arms and equipment captured from South Vietnam.[30] |
See also
References
- ^ "REAGAN CALLS ISRAEL PRIME MOVER IN IRAN-CONTRA". The Washington Post. 1990-11-05. from the original on 2018-08-09. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
- ^ Timmerman, Kenneth R. The Death Lobby: How the West Armed Iraq. New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991.
- ^ . Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14.
- ^ "Statement by former NSC official Howard Teicher to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. [https://www.webcitation.org/5flvP0UgC?url=http://www.overcast.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/print/spidersweb/teicher.htm Plain text version]" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ^ Paterson, Tony. Leaked Report Says German and US Firms Supplied Arms to Saddam 2008-12-11 at the Wayback Machine The Independent. 18 December 2002.
- ^ "Iraq debt: non-Paris Club creditors". from the original on 2017-10-12. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h (PDF). 1 June 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2004. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Archived copy" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2017-01-22. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Razoux, Pierre (3 November 2015). . ISBN 9780674915718. Archived from the original on 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
- ^ Schmidt, Rachel (1991). "Global Arms Exports to Iraq, 1960–1990" (PDF). Santa Monica, CA: RAND's National Defense Research Institute. (PDF) from the original on 2013-05-14. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Astros II Artillery Saturation Rocket System". Army Technology. Net Resources International. from the original on 2013-08-31. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
- ^ a b c "The Combination of Iraqi offensives and Western intervention force Iran to accept a cease-fire: September 1987 to March 1989". The Lessons of Modern War – Volume II: Iran-Iraq War (PDF). Center for Strategic and International Studies. (PDF) from the original on 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
- ^ Bahadori, Mazi (2 May 2005). "The History and Politics of the Iran-Iraq War" (DOC): 25. from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-08-21. University of California, Berkeley Department of History
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) - ^ Garver, John W. (2006). China and Iran: Ancient Partners In A Post-Imperial World. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 72, 80–81. ISBN 9780295986319.
- ^ Hendelman-Baavur, Liora (20 May 2009). . Iran Almanac. Archived from the original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ a b c The Research Unit for Political Economy. "The Iran-Iraq War: Serving American Interests". History of Iran. Iran Chamber Society. Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ a b "Iraqi Scientist Reports on German, Other Help for Iraq Chemical Weapons Program". fas.org. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
- ^ Timmerman, Kenneth R. (1992). The Death Lobby: How the West Armed Iraq. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 978-1857020311.
- ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Italy". Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. International Campaign to Ban Mines. from the original on 2012-08-06. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ a b Pike, John (ed.). "Iraq debt: Non-Paris Club Creditors". from the original on 2006-11-22. Retrieved 2007-02-01.
- ^ Anthony, John Duke; Ochsenwald, William L.; Crystal, Jill Ann. "Kuwait". Encyclopædia Britannica. from the original on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
- ^ . Heritage of Qatar. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ Vatanka, Alex (22 March 2012). . The Majalla. Saudi Research and Publishing Company. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ Rajaee, Farhang (1997). Iranian perspectives on the Iran-Iraq war. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813014760.
- ^ a b El camino de la libertad: la democracia año a año (1986) [The Path of Liberty: Democracy Year to Year] (in Spanish). El Mundo. pp. 27–32.
- ^ Berridge, W. J. "Civil Uprisings in Modern Sudan: The 'Khartoum Springs' of 1964 and 1985", p. 136. Bloomsbury Academic, 2015
- ^ "United Arab Emirates". Encyclopedia of the Nations. from the original on 2013-06-16. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ . Environmental News and Information. Archived from the original on 2013-08-07. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ "The Conventional Military". 6 October 2010.
External links
- Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Select "Iran" or "Iraq" as recipients from 1980 to 1988)