-
Iraq, Turkey, Britain, Pakistan, and Iran signed a treaty pledging economic and military cooperation. This agreement was technically called the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), but became more popularly known as the “Baghdad Pact”.
-
Iraqi leader Abd-al-Karim announced that his country was withdrawing from the Baghdad Pact.
-
The United States granted official recognition to the new Ba’athist government of Iraq. Quasim killed in military coup; Iraq renounces claim of Kuwait.
-
Iraq and the Soviet Union signed a 15-year treaty of “friendship and cooperation.”
-
Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns, allegedly due to ill health, and names General Saddam Hussein as his successor.
-
The 40-month old war between Iran and Iraq escalated when Iran launched a major offensive; 500,000 troops engaged in battle.
-
The Gulf War starts when the coalition forces begin aerial bombing of Iraq, “Operation Desert Storm”.
-
In a decree signed by Saddam Hussein , the Iraqi National Assembly officially acknowledged Kuwait’s sovereignty.
-
After UN staff are evacuated from Baghdad, the US and UK launch a bombing campaign, “Operation Desert Fox”, to destroy Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs.