Iraq expels Ayatollah Khomeini

The agreement linked border security and the Shatt al-Arab boundary to a halt in Iran’s support for the Kurdish revolt in Iraq. Its bargain briefly reduced one major source of interstate tension,...

The treaty formalized the 1975 settlement, including a river boundary along the thalweg of the Shatt al-Arab and protocols on land demarcation and frontier security. Iran later treated Iraq’s 1980...

Iran and Iraq exchanged ratifications in Tehran, bringing the treaty and associated protocols into force. The instruments made the negotiated border settlement legally operative before the...

Khomeini’s return placed him at the center of the revolutionary transition. The new political order that followed disrupted Iran’s regional relationships and heightened Iraqi leaders’ concern about...

The armed forces declared neutrality as the royal government collapsed. The transition weakened and reorganized Iran’s military command while the new republic faced domestic conflict and growing...

Abolhassan Bani-Sadr won the Islamic Republic’s first presidential election. He would lead Iran’s presidency during the invasion’s opening months before losing power in the political crisis of June...

Iran held the first round of elections to its post-revolutionary Majlis. The legislature became an arena for disputes over executive authority before and during the war.

Washington broke diplomatic relations during the hostage crisis. For Iran, the rupture preceded the Iraqi invasion and further narrowed channels with a major power as Tehran faced regional threats and...