The Oil Thief of Baghdad: Understanding Saddam’s Motives for Invading Iran

Abstract:This article argues that Iraqi president Saddam Husayn’s primary motive for invading Iran in 1980 was to seize the oil of Khuzestan Province. I look at all the evidence, much of which was either overlooked in previous treatments of the subject or was unavailable: Iraq’s military moves, Ba‘th Party regime records, tapes of Saddam’s conversations, declassified United States government documents, and interviews with Iraqi generals. Reasons previously offered, like the desire to spark a counterrevolution in Tehran or regain full control of the Shatt al-‘Arab waterway, were secondary or tertiary considerations, though played up for propaganda purposes.