Arms Sales To Iraq 1973-1990 Imports Of Conventional Arms By

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Soviet Union

United States

Six-Day War

Soviet-Iraqi relations suffered strains in the late 1970s. When Iraq invaded Iran in 1980, the Soviet Union cut off weapons sales to Iraq and did not resume them until 1982. During the war, the People's Republic of China became a major new source of weapons for Iraq, with increasing sales from France, and to a lesser extent the United States and Egypt.

1 Imports of conventional arms by Iraq 1973-1990, by source

Values are shown in millions of US dollars at constant (1990) estimated values. "Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact" includes Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. The majority of these transfers came from the Soviet Union, followed by Czechoslovakia.

Year	Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact	France	China (PRC)	United States	Egypt	Others
1973	1,321	5	0	0	0	0
1974	1,471	5	0	0	0	0
1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i	1,087	35	0	0	0	0
19761976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization January 15 Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is s	1,161	119	0	0	0	0
1977For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). Events January 1 First woman Episcopal priest ordained January 6 EMI sacks the Sex Pistols January 18 Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious " legionnaire's disease" Januar	1,062	106	0	0	0	0
1978Events January January 1 The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. January 1 Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay 213 dead. January 4 Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet.	1,827	26	0	0	0	20
1979Events January-February January 1 Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations January 4 State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings.	1,108	78	0	0	0	17
1980	1,665	241	0	0	12	114
1981	1,780	731	0	0	46	182
1982	2,023	673	217	0	71	227
1983	1,898	779	745	21	58	773
1984	2,857	883	1,065	6	0	116
1985	2,601	700	1,036	9	32	116
1986	2,663	251	918	9	70	86
1987	2,719	214	887	30	114	157
1988	1,202	355	301	125	118	196
1989	1,319	113	23	0	47	67
1990	537	281	0	0	0	33

Year

Soviet Union
and Warsaw Pact

France

China (PRC)

United
States

Egypt

Others

1973

1,321

1974

1,471

1975Events January January 1 Watergate scandal: John N. Mitchell, H. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman are found guilty of the Watergate cover-up and are sentenced to 30 months to 8 years in jail on February 21 January 5 The Tasman Bridge in Tasmania, Australia, i

1,087

19761976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). Events January January 12 UN Security Council votes 11-1 to admit the Palestinian Liberation Organization January 15 Would-be Gerald Ford presidential assassin Sara Jane Moore is s

1,161

119

1977For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). Events January 1 First woman Episcopal priest ordained January 6 EMI sacks the Sex Pistols January 18 Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious " legionnaire's disease" Januar

1,062

106

1978Events January January 1 The Copyright Act of 1976 takes effect, making sweeping changes to United States copyright law. January 1 Air India's Boeing 747 explodes near Bombay 213 dead. January 4 Referendum in Chile supports policies of Augusto Pinochet.

1,827

1979Events January-February January 1 Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations January 4 State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings.

1,108

1980

1,665

241

114

1981

1,780

731

182

1982

2,023

673

217

227

1983

1,898

779

745

773

1984

2,857

883

1,065

116

1985

2,601

700

1,036

116

1986

2,663

251

918

1987

2,719

214

887

114

157

1988

1,202

355

301

125

118

196

1989

1,319

113

1990

537

281

SIPRI makes the following comment of the methodology of this table: "The SIPRI data on arms transfers refer to actual deliveries of major conventional weapons. To permit comparison between the data on such deliveries of different weapons and identification of general trends, SIPRI uses a trend-indicator value. The SIPRI values are therefore only an indicator of the volume of international arms transfers and not of the actual financial values of such transfers."

2 Arms suppliers to Iraq

As the table clearly shows, the overwhelming majority of the arms imported by Iraq during the 1970s, when the regime was building up the armies which were to attack Iran in 1980, were supplied by the Soviet Union and its satellites, principally Czechoslovakia. The only substantial western arms supplier to Iraq was France.

The United States did not supply any arms to Iraq until 1982, when Iran's growing military success alarmed American policymakers. It then did so every year until 1988 (briefly also supporting Iran during the Iran-Contra Affair and occasionally condemning Iraq's use of chemical weapons.

France continued to be a major arms supplier to Iraq until 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait and all legal arms transfers to Iraq ended. With the fall of the Soviet Union and of the communist regimes in its former satellites, and the alienation of Egypt from Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait, France became Iraq's principal diplomatic ally. This helps explain much of the antagonism between France and the United States over Iraq during the years between the first and second Gulf Wars.

3 Political implications

During the controversy over the April 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, it was frequently alleged the United States had supported the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq during the period of the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1988. The figures above suggest that the United States was a relatively minor supplier of conventional weapons, and did not play a major role in arming Iraq for its attack on Iran. However, the US was officially neutral during the Iran-Iraq war, and the question of whether any such arms sales were ethical remains controversial. Those who allege US support for Iraq may not be referring solely to arms sales: the US also supported Iraq (though not necessarily the Iraqi military itself) through various financial and political means, and may have sold dual use technology to Iraq; see the external link "Shaking Hands with Saddam".

4 See also

Arms trade

5 External links

Arms transfers to Iraq, 1973-2002 from SIPRI.
Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein: The U.S. Tilts toward Iraq, 1980-1984 from the "National Security Archive".
Soviet Union country guide

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