Middle East 619
MID#2110
Dispute Number: 2110
Date(s): April 10, 1972 to May 1972
Participants: 630 Iran/645 Iraq
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: 1–25 deaths
Narrative: The underlying cause of this dispute was Iran’s abrogation of the Frontier
Treaty of 1937. Following abrogation, Iran began to use its military capability to
police the entire Gulf region. Iran supplied weapons to the Kurds and offered them
a haven in northern Iraq. On April 14, 1972, a military clash between Iran and Iraq
occurred in the Khanaqin region of northern Iraq. For the next month and a half skir-
mishes continued in a disputed territory southeast of Qasre Shirin, the frontier town on
the road between Teheran and Baghdad. On May 31, the Iranian government proposed
a prisoner exchange to Iraq of prisoners captured in the recent skirmishes.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from April 14, 1971. End Date changed from
May 31, 1971.
MID#2111
Dispute Number: 2111
Date(s): January 2, 1973 to March 3, 1973
Participants: 630 Iran/645 Iraq
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: 26–100 deaths
Narrative: This dispute describes two sets of incidents along the Iran-Iraq border
near Mandali, roughly the center point of their shared border. There were two clashes
in January 1973 with fatalities among Iraqi forces. A more intense clash occurred in
early March that killed Iranian troops. Both countries disputed territories along the
central border.
MID#2112
Dispute Number: 2112
Date(s): February 10, 1974 to March 13, 1975
Participants: 645 Iraq/630 Iran
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (Negotiated)
Fatalities: 26–100 deaths
Narrative: For several years Iran and Iraq had been engaged in disagreements over
rights to the Shatt al-Arab waterway, an oil-rich area with three islands that both
countries wanted to control. In 1969, Iran canceled an agreement drawn up between
the two countries in 1936 giving Iraq rights to control the waterway. In 1971, Iran
occupied the strategic islands, and Iraq broke off relations with its neighbor. In 1973,
border disputes broke out again between the two states, and an arms race (presumably
to dominate the Persian Gulf region) took place throughout most of 1973. In February