Why was the Iran-Iraq war a stalemate?

Iran lacked the overall capability of obtaining an outright victory. Its armed forces relied on whatever supplies t could either capture directly from Iraq itself, was supplied by its allies in North Korea and Libya as well as weapons and parts supplied by the US and Israel. read more

Iran-Iraq war was a stalemate because one side (Iran) had stationed on impossible claims and positions of supreme leader (Ayatollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini was claiming the removal of Saddam and conquering Jerusalem via Karbella (Shiite Pilgrimage city in Iraq). read more

The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq, beginning on 22 September 1980, when Iraq invaded Iran, and ending on 20 August 1988, when Iran accepted the UN-brokered ceasefire. Iraq wanted to replace Iran as the dominant Persian Gulf state, and was worried that the 1979 Iranian Revolution would lead Iraq's Shi'ite majority to rebel against the Ba'athist government. read more

The War 22 Phase I - The Iraqi Offensive, Sept - Nov 1980 23 Phase II - Stalemate, Nov 1980 - May 1981 29 Phase III - Iranian Counteroffensive 32 Breaking the Stalemate 39 The Air War 43 The Naval War 46 Chapter 2 - Footnotes 46 Chapter 3. read more