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The United States sided with Iraq instead of Iran because the Iranian Revolution of February 11, 1979 had just deposed the US installed puppet-dictator, Mohamed Reza Shah, effectively cutting-off US control of Iran and its abundant oil resources.

However, one must remember that money was made by US defense contractors arming the two sides as they brutally killed one another for the decade long war.

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7y ago
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10y ago

The US primarily supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War, with several billion dollars in weapon sales to Iraq. The reason that the weapons were secretly sold to Iran in the Iran-Contra Affair was that the US was trying to use weapon sales to leverage the freedom of several hostages and use the money to fund Nicaraguan Contra Rebels without using direct US funds.

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7y ago

The United States primarily supported Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War as a result of the fallout between Iran and the United States following the Islamic Revolution. In particular, the Iran Hostage Crisis, where the new Iranian government violated the diplomatic immunity of the US Embassy in Tehran and kidnapped its membership for 444 days, soured US-Iranian relations.

Conversely, had the war occurred earlier, when the Imperial State of Iran was ruled by Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi, a strong US ally, the US would undoubtedly have sided with Iran against Iraq.

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Q: Why did the United States support Iran in the Iran-Iraq War?
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