ABSTRACT
Iraq’s nuclear program remained dormant through mid-1988, stymied by Israel’s 1981 bombing raid which destroyed the program’s centerpiece, the large French-supplied Osiraq research reactor outside Baghdad. In 1980 and 1981, Iraq also bought inexplicably large amounts of natural uranium from Brazil, Portugal, Niger, and Italy, suggesting a secret intention to irradiate the material in Osiraq and/or in a subsequently purchased heavy water reactor to produce plutonium. Iraq lost additional territory to major Iranian offensives in 1985, 1986, and 1987, but held fast at Basra, inflicting heavy casualties. Iraq had also strengthened its diplomatic position during the conflict, solidifying its ties with the Soviet Union and the Arab Gulf states and bolstering its links to Western Europe. Iraq and Argentina have had close ties in at least one sensitive area of military technology. Together with Egypt, the two countries collaborated throughout the 1980s on the 600-mile Condor II missile.
