Tehran – A Monument to Armenian Martyrs of the Iran-Iraq War

A sculpture dedicated to 140 Armenian martyrs killed during the Iran-Iraq War was recently installed in Tehran. The opening ceremony was attended by officials and representatives of the Armenian community of Tehran. The officials thanked the Armenians for their role in defending their country during the war of 1980-88, reports the media agency IRNA.

The Iran-Iraq War (September 22, 1980 – August 20, 1988), an armed conflict between Iraq and Iran, was preceded by a series of territorial disputes between Iran and Iraq motivated by Iraq’s desire to tear off the oil-rich province of Khuzestan from Iran along with its Arab population and the eastern bank of the Shatt al-Arab river.

The political rivalry between Iran and Iraq for the leading positions in the Persian Gulf was also a major cause of the war.

The Iran-Iraq War was the last major conflict of the Cold War and one of the longest-running armed conflicts of the 20th century.

In 1979, an Islamic revolution took place in Iran under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini. Fearing that the movement would spread to Iraq where the majority of the population, as in Iran, were the Shiites, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began preparations for a war.