Word: iranian
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Could the war that has claimed half a million lives, devastated two countries and led to the largest U.S. naval buildup since World War II finally be over? Not quite. A day after Iran notified the U.N. of its decision, Iraq bombed an Iranian nuclear-power facility at the gulf city of Bushire. Three days later, Baghdad launched new attacks along the 730-mile border between the two countries in an obvious attempt to gain more leverage in cease-fire negotiations. In response, Tehran radio broadcast an appeal for able-bodied men to go to the front...
...Khomeini's sentiments were genuine -- and Arab and Western observers generally believed they were -- he had taken a giant step toward ending the conflict. Calling the Iranian decision a "major breakthrough," the U.S. State Department said the move opens the way for a "restoration of stability in a troubled region of the world...
...officials moved quickly to get peacekeeping machinery in place. Perez de Cuellar invited Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz to meet with him in New York this week to discuss cease-fire arrangements. Two U.N. teams were preparing to make separate visits to Tehran and Baghdad. One will investigate the status of some 70,000 prisoners of war held by the two sides. The other, led by Norwegian Lieut. General Martin Vadset, commander of the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization, will arrange details of a cease-fire. The cease-fire team's report, Perez...
...revolt that brought to power Iraq's ruling secular Ba'athist regime, now headed by President Saddam Hussein. Last week was also the beginning of the hajj, the season of pilgrimage to the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca, Islam's holiest site. During last year's hajj, 275 Iranian visitors were killed by Saudi security forces in Mecca after provoking riots there. Their deaths prompted Khomeini to call for revenge against the Saudi royal family and led to the breaking of diplomatic relations between the two countries...
...origins of the gulf war have grown somewhat obscure over the years. Most authorities blame Iraq for staging the first direct attack, in September 1980, though many concede that Baghdad was mightily provoked by persistent Iranian efforts to stir trouble within Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim minority. After fighting more than three years to recapture its enemy-held land, Iran invaded Iraqi territory in 1984. Eventually, it squeezed off the Shatt al Arab waterway in southern Iraq, the country's only entrance to the gulf. At one point in the conflict, Iran held large areas of territory, notably in southeastern...