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 militias of KDP and PUK in North Iraq, both 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. It purchased weaponry from North Korea and the People's Republic of China, notably the Silkworm anti-ship missile. It also acquired arms from Portugal, notably after 1984. It also acquired propellants and other weapons related components from Spain and Portugal. The United States also provided covert support for Iran through Israel, although it is debated as to whether U.S. President Ronald Reagan actually authorized the sale of weapons to Iran. Most of this support included TOW missiles

Iraq

Military support

Iraq was supported by an Iranian outcast-armed party of Mujaheedin-e-khalg, mainly engaging the pro-Iranian Kurdish forces in the North of Iraq, close to Iranian borders.

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.[1] Iraq's three main suppliers of weaponry during the war were the Soviet Union followed by China and then France.[2] It also acquired substantial arms from Portugal.

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 Hussien. 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."[3] And chemical and biological warfare technology was transferred from the U.S. to Iraq.

Germany, the U.S. and United Kingdom also provided "dual use" technology that allowed Iraq to expand its missile program and radar defenses.

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 the People's Republic of China.[4]

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).[5]

The Iraqgate scandal revealed that an Atlanta branch of Italy's largest bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, relying largely on U.S. taxpayer-guaranteed loans, funneled $5 billion to Iraq from 1985 to 1989.

Table

Country Support to Iraq Support to Iran
 Brazil Sale of ammunition, armoured cars, and tactical multiple rocket launcher[6][7] Major supplier[8]:9
 People's Republic of China Some financial support and military exports[9] Sale of military equipment, including fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, rocket launchers, tanks, and artillery[10]
 Egypt Military exports[11]
 France Sale of high-tech military equipment and uranium[12]
 West Germany Sale of high-tech military equipment[13]
Israel Israel Clandestine support
 Italy Several billion dollars in funding; sale of land and sea mines as well as uranium[12] Sale of land and sea mines[14]
 Japan Engineering equipment such as trucks, caterpillars and bulldozers etc. Engineering equipment such as trucks, caterpillars and bulldozers etc.
 Jordan Acted as main supply line
 Democratic People's Republic of Korea Sold domestically-produced arms; acted as an intermediate for covert sales by the Soviet Union, Soviet satellites, and China
 Republic of Korea Majorly F-4 Phantom II parts, artilleries such as KH-179, and other heavy weapons
 Kuwait Financial support and conduit for arms sales[15][16]
 Pakistan Sold shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile; unaccountable and covert financial support for Iran by Pakistan
 Portugal Sale of uranium[12] Sale of ammunition and explosives[8]:8
 Qatar Initial support,[17] though not openly[18]
 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)[19]
 Soviet Union Military equipment and advisors Covert military equipment sales
 Spain Sale of conventional and chemical weapons, especially ammunition and explosives[20] Sale of weapons, especially ammunition and explosives[8]:8[20]
 Sweden Covert sales of weapons, explosives and fast-attack boats.
 United Arab Emirates Financial aid[15][21]
 United Kingdom Weapons-related equipment and ‘Sodium cyanide for chemical weapons and plutonium and gas spectrometers’
 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; direct involvement in warfare Secret arms sales (Iran-Contra affair)
 Yugoslavia Weapons sales (more than $2 billion worth)[22]

References

  1. ↑ Timmerman, Kenneth R. The Death Lobby: How the West Armed Iraq. New York, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991.
  2. ↑ "Sources used in compiling the database". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
  3. ↑ Statement by former NSC official Howard Teicher to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida. Plain text version
  4. ↑ Paterson, Tony. Leaked Report Says German and US Firms Supplied Arms to Saddam The Independent. December 18, 2002.
  5. ↑ Iraq debt: non-Paris Club creditors
  6. ↑ Schmidt, Rachel (1991). "Global Arms Exports to Iraq, 1960–1990". Santa Monica, CA: RAND's National Defense Research Institute.
  7. ↑ "Astros II Artillery Saturation Rocket System". Army Technology. Net Resources International.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "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. Center for Strategic and International Studies.
  9. ↑ Bahadori, Mazi (2 May 2005). "The History and Politics of the Iran-Iraq War" (DOC). p. 25. University of California, Berkeley Department of History
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Hendelman-Baavur, Liora (20 May 2009). "Iran-Egypt Relations". Iran Almanac. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 The Research Unit for Political Economy. "The Iran-Iraq War: Serving American Interests". History of Iran. Iran Chamber Society. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  13. ↑ Timmerman, Kenneth R. (1992). The Death Lobby: How the West Armed Iraq. London: Fourth Estate. ISBN 978-1857020311.
  14. ↑ "Italy". Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor. International Campaign to Ban Mines. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Pike, John (ed.). "Iraq debt: Non-Paris Club Creditors".
  16. ↑ Anthony, John Duke; Ochsenwald, William L.; Crystal, Jill Ann. "Kuwait". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  17. ↑ "Brief History of Qatar". Heritage of Qatar. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  18. ↑ Vatanka, Alex (22 March 2012). "The Odd Couple". The Majalla (Saudi Research and Publishing Company). Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  19. ↑ Rajaee, Farhang (1997). Iranian perspectives on the Iran-Iraq war. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813014760.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 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.
  21. ↑ "United Arab Emirates". Encyclopedia of the Nations. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  22. ↑ "Yugoslavia Arms Sales". Environmental News and Information. Retrieved 7 November 2012.