‘Provos’, in 1969. In 1972 the Official IRA abandoned its campaign of
violence, leaving only its parallel political wing, ‘Official Sinn Fe ́in’, which
changed its name to The Workers’ Party in 1978 and has since campaigned for
a democratic, socialist and united Irish state. Meanwhile the Provisional IRA,
and its parallel political wing Sinn Fe ́in, became the more prominent element
of Irish nationalism, particularly in Northern Ireland. The Provisional IRA has
frequently struck against military and civilian targets, using guerrilla and
terroristtactics, principally in Northern Ireland but also on the British
mainland. Several prominent politicians and public figures have been assassi-
nated. Sinn Fe ́in has recorded moderate successes in elections to local councils,
and has also had candidates elected to the House of Commons, although its
members of parliament have always refused to take their seats; its degree of
support for the Provisional IRA’s campaign of violence has varied, leading to
further splits in the organization. The nationalist movement as a whole, but
especially the Provisional IRA, has been supported financially and in other
ways by the Irish community in North America. The Provisional IRA has also
had connections with various international terrorist organizations. Both Sinn
Fe ́in and the IRA have increasingly stressed their autonomy from each other,
especially since the Belfast Agreement (informally known as the Good Friday
Agreement) of 1998 which made possible limited independent government for
Northern Ireland on the basis of free elections. In particular Sinn Fe ́in insists
that, as it cannot control the IRA, its political opportunities should not be
affected by any failure of the IRA to carry it its part of those agreements. The
acts of weapons-abandonment carried out in accordance with these agree-
ments by the Provisional IRA in the early 2000s served to throw into greater
relief the continuing armed struggle of further splinter groups such as the ‘Real
IRA’.
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War began when Iraq attacked Iran in 1980 and, after a lengthy
period of attrition warfare with fluctuating fortunes, was stopped by a cease-
fire in 1988, finally ending in 1990 when Iraq, attempting to gain advantage
during theGulf War, accepted the territorial boundaries which had existed at
the beginning of the war. The formalcasus belliwas Iraqi claims to territory that
would have increased its ability to control northern Persian Gulf waters, and
especially the part known as the Shatt al-Arab, vital for entry to oil exporting
ports in both countries. In fact the war was fought, on both sides, more as a test
of which country should become the dominant regional power. Saddam
Hussain, Iraq’s president, had always sought to be the leader of a revolutionary
pan-Arab movement, which threatened the national basis of other countries of
theMiddle East. While Iran is not, strictly speaking, an Arab nation at all, the
Iran–Iraq War