Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/realtimehistory
In September 1980, Iraq invades Iran. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is convinced that now is the time to strike, since Iran is still shaken by its Islamic Revolution, and he expects victory within weeks. Instead, the conflict will last 8 years, cost hundreds of thousands of lives , threaten world oil markets, and draw the US into the Persian Gulf for good. It’s the last total war of the 20th century.

» SUPPORT US
patreon.com/realtimehistory
nebula.tv/realtimehistory

» THANK YOU TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS
Rose Flaglor, Reed Spilmann, Jim Frame, Erik Ritter, Cardboard, Ken Brownfield, David Garfinkle, Raymond Martin, Konstantin Bredyuk, Lisa Anderson, Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje

» SOURCES
BBC. “The World Debate: The War the World Needs to Remember.” 2015 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p032z5h8

Cordesmann, Anthony; Wagner, Abraham. The Lessons of Modern War [Vol. II]: The Iran-Iraq War. 1990.

Encyclopaedia Iranica. “Iran-Iraq War.” iranicaonline.org/articles/iraq-vii-iran-iraq-war

Farrokh, Kaveh. Iran at War 1500 – 1988. 2011.

Fürtig, Henner. Geschichte des Irak. Von der Gründung 1921 bis heute. 2016.

Karsh, Efraim. The Iran-Iraq War 1980 – 1988. 2002.

Mofid, Kamran. The Economic Consequences of the Gulf War. 1990.

Kennington, Devin et al. Iran-Iraq War Timeline. Wilson Center.
www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/doc…

Liu, Brandon. “U.S. Involvement in the 1980s Iran-Iraq War: America’s Haphazard Extension of Gulf Insecurity” in Yale Review of International Studies, 2018. yris.yira.org/column/u-s-involvement-in-the-1980s-…

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. “Revisiting Halabjah: Survivors Talk About Horror Of Attack, Continuing Ordeal.” March 14, 2008. www.rferl.org/a/1079637.html

Razoux, Pierre. La guerre Iran-Irak 1980-1988. 2015.

“Saddam and His Advisers Discussing Iraq's Decision to Go to War with Iran.” September 16, 1980. digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/saddam-hu…

Shin, Ann (director). “My Enemy, My Brother.” Fathom Film Group, 2017.
Wawro, Geoffrey. Quicksand: America's Pursuit of Power in the Middle East. 2010.



»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com/
Research by: Philipp Trzaska, Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig
Executive Producer: Florian Wittig

Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster

Contains licensed material by getty images, AP and Reuters
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
Music Library: Epidemic Sound

All photos and film in our documentaries are authentic historical footage. We do not use generative AI to create new assets. However, we may use AI tools to upscale or clean up certain assets without distorting or compromising the original image.

All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2025