Iran and Iraq Declare Cease-Fire
US threatened to impose sanctions against Iran if it did not accept the ceasefire the next day.
American vessels an also attacked Iranian vessel laying mines in the Persian Gulf and sank an Iranian mine laying ship on charges of explosion. Iraq accepted the resolution since it had lost much of its land while Iraq did not comply with it since it was very close to victory and did not want to lose its gains.
The fighting continued. Iraq however regrouped and planned a devastating attack on Iran. In July Iraqi planes dropped chemical bombs on Kurdish village of Iran. Thousands were killed at once. Iran considered nuclear weapons but it proved beyond their means. Ultimately, Iran accepted the UN Security Council Resolution 598. On 20 August 1988, peace was restored with both the countries accepting the terms of the Resolution 598. The Resolution was a very strong one due to its power and the breadth of its support. Its basic objective was ‘Desire an End to the War’.
The Iran-Iraq war lasted nearly eight years, from September of 1980 until August of 1988. It ended when Iran accepted United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 598, leading to a 20 August 1988 cease-fire.
Casualty figures are highly uncertain, though estimates suggest more than one and a half million war and war-related casualties -- perhaps as many as a million people died, many more were wounded, and millions were made refugees. Iran acknowledged that nearly 300,000 people died in the war; estimates of the Iraqi dead range from 160,000 to 240,000. Iraq suffered an estimated 375,000 casualties, the equivalent of 5.6 million for a population the size of the United States. Another 60,000 were taken prisoner by the Iranians. Iran's losses may have included more than 1 million people killed or maimed.
The war began when Iraq invaded Iran, launching a simultaneous invasion by air and land into Iranian territory on 22 September 1980 following a long history of border disputes, and fears of Shia insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by the Iranian Revolution. Iraq was also aiming to replace Iran as the dominant Persian Gulf state. Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of revolutionary chaos in Iran and attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and within several months were repelled by the Iranians who regained virtually all lost territory by June, 1982. For the next six years, Iran was on the offensive. Despite calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council, hostilities continued until 20 August 1988.
