A long history of relations between Iraq and Iran, which passed through political and military milestones and changes that spanned hundreds of years, during which the two countries witnessed the outbreak of the longest wars of the twentieth century in the region in 1980 (which lasted 8 years), leaving about a million dead and financial losses amounting to 400 billion dollars.

That war caused the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two countries, for more than 10 years, before it resumed and resumed in 1990.

September 10, 2020, marks the 30th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which went through several stations and positions.

Al-Allaf believed that the differences between Iraq and Iran relate to political and ideological aspects (Al-Jazeera)

A history of stress

Historian Ibrahim Khalil Al-Allaf says that the history of relations between the two countries dates back to the period in which Iraq was divided into 3 states belonging to the Ottoman Empire, specifically in the years between 1516 and 1546.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, he adds that the differences are related to political and ideological aspects, noting that the relations during the monarchy (1921-1958) were good, as the two countries were members of what was known as the Baghdad Pact, which was established in 1955, but soon tension returned over differences over Shatt al-Arab (the meeting point of the Tigris and Euphrates in the northern Persian Gulf) after the establishment of the republican regime in Iraq on July 14, 1958.

He continues that what added to the tension in relations was the withdrawal of Iraq from the Baghdad Pact in March 1959.

According to Al-Allaf, Iraq welcomed the new regime in Iran after the Islamic revolution that toppled the Shah's regime on February 11, 1979, and asked the new leadership to clarify its position on the Algiers Treaty signed between the two countries in 1975, which formed the borders between Iraq and Iran, especially in the Shatt al-Arab region. But he did not get a response.

In his speech, the Iraqi historian goes on to say that the situation became tense after the arrival of new leaders in the two countries (Saddam Hussein in Iraq and Khomeini in Iran), and the occurrence of a series of disputes and events that caused the outbreak of a devastating war between the two countries that lasted 8 years.

Tawfiq considered that the Iraqi-Iranian border file is one of the most complicated files (Al-Jazeera)

Border disputes

The Iraqi-Iranian borders file is one of the most complex and focal points of the conflict that Iraq and Iran have been witnessing throughout history.

Military expert Subhi Nazim Tawfiq says that there were no border disputes between Iraq and Iran, even after the middle of the Abbasid era, pointing out that the countries of Persia (such as the Seljuks, Ghaznavids and Khwarizmia), had problems between them and the Abbasid state in Iraq because of the borders, until the fall of the Abbasid state. At the hands of the Mongols.

Tawfiq added to Al-Jazeera Net that differences between the two countries remained in those years, whether they were apparent or hidden problems, pointing out that the sectarian difference did not appear until the Safavid state’s control of Iraq.

For his part, Head of the Policy-Making Center for International and Strategic Studies Husam Boutani says that the borders between the two countries were not drawn naturally throughout history, but rather through wars or the basis of tension between the two countries, pointing out that this reason made the border file a point of tension and conflict between the two countries throughout history.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Bhutani added that the first attempt that witnessed the demarcation of the borders between the two countries was the "Shirin Palace" agreement between the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid state in 1636 that drew the borders of modern Iraq.

According to Bhutani, Iraq was forced in 1975 to sign the Algiers agreement to demarcate the borders at the Taluk line in the Shatt al-Arab, pointing out that the agreement continued until Saddam Hussein and Khomeini came to power in 1979, and Saddam tried to seize the opportunity with regard to the chaos inside Iran to announce his abolition of that agreement. As a result, the war broke out between the two countries.

Resumption of relationships

After the end of that devastating war, relations between the two countries resumed on September 10, 1990, shortly after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2 of that year.

Al-Allaf believes that the two sides realized the seriousness of the war and its consequences for the two neighboring peoples, after the two leaderships knew that the foreign and regional parties contributed to fueling it and benefited from it politically and economically.

According to Al-Allaf, the imposition of the economic blockade on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait led to its weakening, and then its invasion and occupation in 2003, and attention to Iran and its blockade in order to weaken it, considering this as part of an American policy in what is known as the dual containment of Iraq and Iran.

The Iraqi historian confirms that the relationship between the two countries was not what it should have been, and perhaps the reason for this is that Iraq retained forces opposing the rule in Iran, and Iran also maintained forces opposing the rule in Iraq with the intention of using the appropriate time and political pressure.

Ilias: Iran has seen that the American presence in the Gulf is targeting it (Al-Jazeera)

The invasion of Kuwait

On the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and Iran's position towards it, the Iraqi researcher specializing in Iranian foreign policy, Firas Elias, believes that the Iranian position during that period passed through two basic stages.

Elias explained that the first stage is from the invasion of Kuwait until August 15, 1990, and was represented by condemning Iraq and supporting the military solution against it, adding in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that the second phase began from mid-August 1990 until the end of the crisis in February 1991, and saw that The aim of the American presence in the Persian Gulf is to target the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

According to Elias, Iraq sought to win over the Iranian position, under the idea of ​​common hostility to the United States, through a letter sent by the late President Saddam Hussein to Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani in 1991, but Tehran refused to respond to the invitation.

For his part, Al-Allaf points out that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on the second of August 1990 confused the situation in the region, and some regional and foreign countries benefited from the acceleration of weakening Iraq and thinking later on weakening Iran.

Al-Shammari said that Iran believed that it would be America's next target after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003 (Al-Jazeera)

The American invasion

Regarding the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Iranian position was totally rejecting the process of overthrowing the regime in Iraq, says the head of the Center for Political Thinking, Dr. Ihsan Al-Shammari.

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Shammari believes that relations between Iraq and Iran have developed significantly and remarkably with the former regime, especially since Saddam Hussein made many concessions to the Iranian side.

He indicates that Iran had believed that the fall of Saddam’s regime would create chaos on its borders, and that it would make the United States a point of direct approach to it, in addition to that it believed that after the fall of the regime in Iraq, it would be a direction to overthrow the political regime in Iran.

As for the stage after the US invasion of Iraq, it was the most important stage in the history of relations between Iran and Iraq, and the reason for that was the overthrow of Saddam Hussein and his departure from the equation to witness the arena after that an escalation and superiority of Iran, according to Bhutani.

Botani points out that after 2003 there were 3 stations for Iran's role in Iraq, indicating that the first stage is its move to move in Iraq to frame the Shiite rule loyal to it mainly by providing great support to it.

And the second stage after the American withdrawal from Iraq in 2011, when Iran tried to form parallel lines to fill the vacuum with Iraq, especially after the Arab revolutions, and the threat of its ally in Syria.

And the third stage after 2014, which was considered the stage of perfection for the Iranian strategy, when it prompted the fatwa of Ali al-Sistani, known as the struggle for fighting the Islamic State and the formation of the popular crowd, which placed two-thirds of these factions linked to the ideological and loyalty of the supreme leader and the Iranian regime, according to Bhutani.

As for Al-Shammari, he believes that Iran dealt with Iraq after 2003 with the paths of "American Iraq and Allied Iraq", and he shows that the first track formed a barrier between it and the American forces, as it worked to establish a resistance that provided it with weapons and training against those forces, considering this path one of the pressure papers that Iran practices it against the US approaching its borders.

Al-Shammari added that the other path was Iran's success in establishing and strengthening political allies, inside Iraq, through access to centers of government.

Iraqi protesters condemned Iran's interference in the country's affairs and raised slogans against it (Reuters)

The October demonstrations

Regarding the Iraqi demonstrations that erupted in October 2019 and their connection with relations with Iran, Al-Shammari believes that these demonstrations are launched towards reform as a result of mismanagement, but Iran's allies who managed the political scene and pushed towards the collapse of state institutions, rampant corruption, quotas, and the practice of exclusion against national competencies, and support The persistent Iranian of these parties is the main reason for the increase in popular resentment against Tehran.

The head of the Political Thinking Center adds that there is an idea among the demonstrators that Iran is responsible for the nature of what is happening in Iraq, and has more decision-making power than the ruling political class, and that is why part of the protests' demands was to stop the external expansion of Iran and other regional countries.

Al-Shammari points out that the protest movement’s attempt to restore the Iraqi decision from abroad was to go specifically towards Iran as part of its support for the ruling parties.

Military expert Nazem Subhi Tawfiq agrees that the demonstrators saw the connection of the ruling parties and decision-makers in Iraq with Iran, which caused condemnation of its interference, raising slogans against it, and burning its consulates in the country.

The future of relationships

Al-Shammari believes that there is a change in the nature of the relations between the two countries, and that Iran is restoring its calculations at the level of the Iraqi interior, as well as looking at the level of economic transactions as a top priority, and therefore it continues in this aspect.

For his part, Bhutani believes that the future of Iranian-Iraqi relations is linked to the path of the current political system in Iraq, which is going through its deepest crises, saying that these relations enter into a tunnel that does not see light at the end until this moment.