622 Chapter 5
following day when Iran responded to Iraqi shelling. Iran stated it would not resume
peace talks until Iraq gave up the Iranian territory it occupied.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from February 17, 1989. End Date changed
from March 13, 1989.
MID#3921
Dispute Number: 3921
Date(s): October 25, 1989
Participants: 630 Iran/645 Iraq
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: 1–25 deaths
Narrative: Two Iranian gunboats surrounded and fired on an Iraqi tugboat. Both Iraq
and Iran down played the event as an isolated incident, and news of the attack did not
surface until the next day.
Coding changes: Fatalities changed from None.
MID#3566
Dispute Number: 3566
Date(s): April 5, 1992 to September 2, 1992
Participants: 630 Iran/645 Iraq
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: On April 5, 1992, a rebel base in Ashraf, Iraq, was attacked by Iranian
warplanes. This was the first major attack by Iran since the 1988 ceasefire that ended
the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq War. Saddam Hussein also claimed that, on September
2, Iranian forces attempted to penetrate the southern marshes but were pushed back by
Iraqi forces. He sent a threat to Iran on September 8 and stated that Iraq would “inflict
losses on anyone trying to tamper with its unity.” The governor of Basra also assured
France, Britain, and the United States that they would not be violating the “no-fly
zone” instituted after the Gulf War.
Coding changes: End Date changed from September 8, 1992.
MID#4072
Dispute Number: 4072
Date(s): March 13, 1993 to July 25, 1993
Participants: 630 Iran/645 Iraq
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute describes a series of attacks—approximately one per
month—by Iranian forces on Kurdish forces in Iraq. Iraq protested each action.