International aid to combatants in the Iran–Iraq War

During the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq received large quantities of weapons and other material useful to the development of armaments and weapons of mass destruction.

Iran

Military support

Iran was backed by the Kurdish militias of KDP and PUK in North Iraq, both organizations in fact rebelling against Iraqi Ba'athist government with Iranian support.

Logistic support

Iran's foreign supporters gradually came to include Syria and Libya, through which it obtained Scud missiles. It purchased weaponry from North Korea and the People's Republic of China, notably the Silkworm anti-ship missile. It also acquired arms from Portugal, notably after 1984. It also acquired propellants and other weapons related components from Spain and Portugal. The United States also provided covert support for Iran through Israel, although it is debated as to whether U.S. President Ronald Reagan actually ordered the sale of weapons to Iran. Most of this support included TOW missiles.

Iraq

Military support

Iraq was supported by an Iranian outcast-armed party of Mujaheedin-e-khalgh, mainly engaging the pro-Iranian Kurdish forces in the North of Iraq, close to Iranian borders.

Logistic support

Iraq's army was primarily equipped with weaponry it had previously purchased from the Soviet Union and its satellites in the preceding decade. During the war, it also purchased billions of dollars' worth of advanced equipment from France, the People's Republic of China, Egypt, Germany and other sources.^[1] Iraq's three main suppliers of weaponry during the war were the Soviet Union followed by China and then France.^[2] It also acquired substantial arms from Portugal.

The United States sold Iraq over $200 million in helicopters, which were used by the Iraqi military in the war. These were the only direct U.S.-Iraqi military sales. At the same time, the U.S. provided substantial covert support for Saddam Hussien. The CIA directed non-U.S. origin hardware to Saddam Hussein's armed forces, "to ensure that Iraq had sufficient military weapons, ammunition and vehicles to avoid losing the Iran-Iraq war."^[3] And "dual use" technology was transferred from the U.S. to Iraq.

Germany and United Kingdom also provided dual use technology that allowed Iraq to expand its missile program and radar defenses.

According to an uncensored copy of Iraq's 11,000-page declaration to the U.N., leaked to Die Tageszeitung and reported by The Independent, the know-how and material for developing unconventional weapons were obtained from 150 foreign companies, from countries such as West Germany, the U.S., France, UK, and the People's Republic of China.^[4]

Iraq's main financial backers were the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, most notably Saudi Arabia ($30.9 billion), Kuwait ($8.2 billion) and the United Arab Emirates ($8 billion).^[5]

The Iraqgate scandal revealed that an Atlanta branch of Italy's largest bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, relying largely on U.S. taxpayer-guaranteed loans, funneled $5 billion to Iraq from 1985 to 1989.

Countries which supported either combatant

Country	Support to Iraq	Support to Iran
Argentina		Sales of uranium and arms
Austria	Sales of self-propelled artillery pieces[6]
Brazil	Sale of ammunition, armoured cars, and tactical multiple rocket launcher[7][8]	Major supplier[9]:9
Canada	Sales of war materiel[10]
People's Republic of China	Some financial support and military exports[11]	Sale of military equipment, including fighter aircraft, surface-to-air missiles, rocket launchers, tanks, and artillery[12]
Denmark	Sales of military equipment[13]
Egypt	Military exports[14]
France	Sale of high-tech military equipment and uranium[15]
East Germany	Sale of high-tech military equipment[16]
West Germany	Sale of high-tech military equipment[17]	Sales of chemical warfare equipment[18]
Hungary	Sales of war materiel[19]
Israel		Clandestine support
Italy	Several billion dollars in funding; sale of land and sea mines as well as uranium[15]	Sale of land and sea mines[20]
Japan	Engineering equipment such as trucks, caterpillars and bulldozers etc.	Engineering equipment such as trucks, caterpillars and bulldozers etc.
Jordan	Acted as main supply line
Democratic People's Republic of Korea		Sold domestically-produced arms; acted as an intermediate for covert sales by the Soviet Union, Soviet satellites, and China
Netherlands		Funded Iran with a total of $5 billion.
Republic of Korea		Sales of F-4 Phantom II parts, artilleries such as KH-179, and other heavy weapons
Kuwait	Financial support and conduit for arms sales[21][22]
Libya		Armaments, munitions and ballistic missiles.
Pakistan		Sold shoulder-launched surface-to-air missile; unaccountable and covert financial support for Iran by Pakistan
Poland	Sales of military materiel[23]
Portugal	Sale of uranium and arms[15]	Sale of ammunition and explosives[9]:8
Qatar	Initial support,[24] though not openly[25]
Romania	Sales of military materiel[26]
Saudi Arabia	$20 billion in funding
Singapore	Provided chemical warfare precursors; acted as a transshipment point for weapons; was manufacturing site of foreign-designed weapons
South Africa	Sale of military armament (200 G5 155mm Artillery systems)[27]
Soviet Union	Military equipment and advisors	Covert military equipment sales
Spain	Sale of conventional and chemical weapons, especially ammunition and explosives[28]	Sale of weapons, especially ammunition and explosives[9]:8[28]
Syria		Armaments, munitions and ballistic missiles.
Sweden		Covert sales of RBS-70 surface-to-air missile system, explosives and fast-attack boats.
Switzerland	Sales of war materiel[29]	Sales of chemical warfare equipment[30]
Turkey	Sales of arms.	Sales of arms.
United Arab Emirates	Financial aid[21][31]
United Kingdom	Weapons-related equipment and ‘Sodium cyanide for chemical weapons and plutonium and gas spectrometers’
United States	Several billion dollars worth of economic aid; the sale of dual-use technology and non-U.S. origin weaponry; military intelligence; Special Operations training	Secret arms sales (Iran-Contra affair)
Yugoslavia	Weapons sales (more than $2 billion worth)[32]

See also

• Iraq–Russia relations
• Iraq–United States relations

References

External links

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Select "Iran" or "Iraq" as recipient(s))