The Evaluation of Reagan Administration during Iran - Iraq War

By agreement with the Shah, the unite States provided covert assistance at intervals between 1966 and 1975 to the Kurdish rising in Iraq, the purpose of which was not to t wholey Kurdish independence, tho "to sap the resources of" [Iraq] (Hitchens 71).

Relations between the United States and Iran sharply deteriorated after Ayatollah Khomeini took power in February, 1979, and especially during the Iranian security crisis of 1979-1980. Hiro says that the Carter regime was awarfaree of Saddam Hussein's plans to attack Iran, provided Iraq through Saudi Arabia data on Iranian defenses and may even "have promote Iraq to attack Iran" (71).

The Iran-Iraq war began on September 22, 1980 with Iraqi sort attacks on Iranian air bases and a land incursion of the central Iranian province of Khuzistan. Until mid-1982, Iran was on the defensive except was able to contain the thrust of the initial Iraqi offensives. During this period, the policy of the Reagan administration was to remain neutral. In the wake of the resolution of the hostage crisis, the United States lifted economic sanctions on Iran and "turned a blind eye to the shipment of weapons and spares" to Iran by private companies in the United States, Israel and others (Hiro 120). The American aim at that point was to ensure that the war "would remain localized and leave navigation in the Gulf undisturbed. . . it was content to let the belligerents

During the concluding phases of the war, the United States tilted firmly toward Iraq.

When Iran retaliated against Iraq's attacks on its transfer and oil facilities in the Gulf area, "Kuwait turned to the superpowers for the sentry go of its vessels, and got a positive response, particularly from the United States" (3). The United States reflagged and escorted to gumshoe Kuwaiti oil tankers and eventually extended its protection to all vessels in the Gulf. Iran tried to avoid encounters with the much stronger allied pass away in the Gulf, moreover some incidents occurred, including the sinking of Iranian guard boats and minelayers, the destruction of several Iranian oil rigs and the accidental nip down of an Iranian civilian airliner. The United States supported but played a fairly minor role in efforts by the United Nations, the Soviet Union, the Europeans and others to negotiate an end to the war which finally occurred in April, 1988.

Schultz, George P. Turmoil and Triumph. New York: Charles

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