Iran-Iraq WarThe eight-year Iran-Iraq War was, by the standards of international conflicts, a very long war. It lasted longer than the First and Second World Wars. In this conflict, the two most powerful states in the Persian Gulf, Iran and Iraq, which were the world's largest oil producers, engaged in mortal combat and seemed determined to destroy each other. The war began when Iraq invaded Iran, launching a simultaneous air and ground invasion of Iranian territory in September 1980, and ended with a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in 1988. The causes of war are deeply rooted in the ideology and ambitions of the country's leaders. countries to gain and maintain control over domestic and regional politics, as well as concerns about internal security, which were linked to notions of nationalism and territorial boundaries. The personal ambitions of the leaders concerned issues of consolidating their political power at home and projecting an image of strength in the region that would ensure their dominance over neighboring countries. Saddam Hussein, by the mid-1970s, had officially secured his position as leader of Iraq. His regime was fundamentally secular, although it sometimes tried to appeal to the religious feelings of all Iraqis. Saddam saw himself as a great leader and modernizer who would make Iraq the leading state in the Middle East. At that time, Iraq's main competitor for regional dominance was its neighbor Iran, and Iran seemed vulnerable due to the Iranian Revolution taking place at that time and not yet over. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was still becoming the undisputed Iranian leader, but he was not yet... middle of paper ......4. “Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).” GlobalSecurity.org - Trusted security information. Internet. May 9, 2011. .5. Karsh, Efraim (2002). The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988. Osprey Editions. p. 22.6. Levy, Jack S. and William R. Thompson. Causes of war. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.7. “The Iran-Iraq War and Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Conservative blogs, websites and news media. Internet. May 9, 2011. .8. “The Iran-Iraq War.” Jewish Virtual Library - Home Page. Internet. May 9, 2011. .9. Worker, Thom. THE SOCIAL ORIGINS OF THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR. March 1991. Web. .10. http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199289783/01student/cases/iran_iraq_war.pdf