ABSTRACT
In September 1980 Iraq launched an invasion against Iran, initiating a protracted armed conflict longer than World War I and the most devastating since World War II. The political structures in Iran and Iraq will be analyzed as they bear upon this conflict. Finally, the effects of external inputs from the Cold War will be discussed. Political manoeuvring and border clashes once again brought the contending parties to negotiations which culminated in the 1937 Iraqi-Iranian Frontier Treaty. The Iraqi Ba‘th regime, perhaps because of its political and ideological orientation, launched a campaign to change the status quo and power structure of the Persian Gulf region. Iraq obviously perceived the Iranian power struggle triggered by the revolution as the propitious moment to restructure its own disadvantageous relationship with Iran. The Iraqi political system is based upon a Revolutionary Command Council, which is the supreme political as well as legislative body of the country.
