The bloody Iran-Iraq war, which lasted almost eight years, has almost been forgotten, overshadowed by the subsequent Gulf War and the Iraq War. However, it is best known for the so-called 'Tanker War,' which threatened to drain global oil supplies. As a defense analyst, Tucker-Jones wrote extensively about the war and now brings his expertise to this account of a conflict fueled by internal regional rivalries, the Cold War, and the emerging threat posed by fanatic Shiite Islamists.
The war was fought on land, sea, and air using some of the most advanced weaponry money could buy. The Western-backed Saddam Hussein representing Sunni Iraq and Iran's Shiites under the ayatollahs were at a stalemate. As Saddam's armed forces stalled and Iran's human wave counterattacks were repelled, the war turned into a war of attrition with major battles over the possession of Khorramshahr and Babylon. Both sides resorted to the use of chemical weapons and bombed each other with missiles. When the war extended into the Gulf waters, it sparked open Western intervention. The increasing attacks on oil tankers eventually led to a ceasefire.
Pages: 136, Dimensions: 15.6x15.6cm
