Iraq History Timeline

By Dhia Younis

Key: Ref=Reference

Disclaimer: Terms of address indicating special valuation be given to a person are omitted. This definitely is not out of disrespect but totally from adherence to actual fact. Therefore, for example when King Faisal 1 is recorded in this timeline it will be “King Faisal 1” and not “His Excellency King Faisal”. This will apply to all personages and exceptions will not occur. That being said titles will be recorded if there is sufficient evidence in the opinion of the editor that said title was actually used or conferred upon the person by a legitimate body.

Till 0 Common Era | 0 Common Era-1899 | 1900-1949 | 1950-1999 | 2000 to present

Year

Day Month

Fact / Detail

1952

Top

The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC) and Iraq agree in February to split profits 50-50. Jamal Abdel Nasser and the "Free Officers" oust the monarchy in Egypt.( 4)

Inaugural ceremony of a major oil pipe line laid from Kirkuk to Banias in Syria. Attended by King Faisal 2, Regent Prince Abdul Illah, Former Prime Minister Nuri el-Said, Admiral John Cunningham (Chairman of the Iraq Petroleum Company) and Mr. H. S. Gibson (Managing Director of the Iraq Petroleum Company). Film.

The audience at the inauguration. Note the variety of ethnicities. More at https://www.britishpathe.com

 
View Larger Map

Top

A major flood occurs in the Baghdad, Diyala areas.The British RAF gave a helping hand to the Iraqi government at the time. More details under "Iraq Flood Relief" at Link. There was an overall Iraqi popular effort which helped curb the damages.

Other floods have occurred before 1954.

May

King Faisal II takes the throne (image at right), ending the regency. ( 4)

Oct

Gamal Abdel Nasser takes power in Egypt. ( 4)

1955

(1374 Hijri)

Top

Feb 4

(Rajab 2)

Iraq signs the Baghdad Pact (with Great Britain, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan), an alliance of Western powers against the Soviet Union and Nasser's Egypt. ( 4) (Ref-Link) (Document)

1956

Top

During the Suez crisis, Nasser issues a call for Arab independence. Pro-Nasser riots break out in major Iraqi centers.( 4)

1958

Top

Feb

The United Arab Republic (UAR) is formed by Egypt and Syria, which pressure Iraq to join as well.( 4)

14 Jul

The monarchy is overthrown in a military coup led by Brig Abd-al-Karim Qassim and Col. Abd-al-Salam Muhammad Arif. Iraq is declared a republic and Qassim becomes prime minister. (5)  Free Officers' military coup executes King Faisal II. Abd-al-Karim Qasim, an increasingly vocal advocate of Arab nationalism, heads the new government. ( 4)

Details:

King Faisal II with his wife and others are buried in the Royal Cemetery in Adhamiya - Baghdad not far from the Tigris river. The sarcophagus and the mosque are shown below.

Oct

Qasim is wounded by would-be assassins with links to the CIA; Saddam Hussein, one of the conspirators, flees to Cairo.( 4)

Dec

Iraq withdraws from the Baghdad Pact.( 4)

1961

Top

Jun

Qasim demands that newly independent Kuwait be incorporated into Iraq, but backs down when Britain sends troops.( 4)

Dec

Qasim nationalizes huge areas of IPC's petroleum concessions that have not been developed.[4]

1963

Top

8 Feb

Qasim is ousted in a coup led by the military and Arab Socialist Baath Party (ASBP). Arif becomes president. [5]  Saddam Hussein participates in the torture and murder of supposed Communists and leftists, many of whose names are provided by the CIA.( 4)

Oct - 18 Nov

The Baathist government is overthrown by Arif and a group of officers. [5]  After weeks of turbulence, General Abdel Salam Aref expels the Baathists from the ruling alliance. ( 4)

1964

Top

President Abdel Salam Aref enacts land reform and nationalizes insurance companies, banks, and large industrial firms. ( 4)

1966

Top

17 Apr

After Arif is killed in a helicopter crash on 13 April, his elder brother, Maj-Gen Abd-al-Rahman Muhammad Arif, succeeds him as president. [5]

1967

Top

In the six day war with Israel, Iraq sends a small force to Jordan. ( 4)

1968

Top

17 Jul

A Baathist led-coup ousts Arif and Gen Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr becomes president. [5]  A July coup by Arab nationalists and Baath military officers, with some aid from the CIA, installs Hasan al-Bakr as President and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). President al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein eject non-Baathists from the government. ( 4)

1969

Top

Jun

Iraq and the Soviets sign an accord for Soviet assistance in developing Iraq's oil fields. ( 4)

Nov

Saddam Hussein becomes vice-chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council.

1970

Top

11 Mar

The Revolution Command Council (RCC) and Mullah Mustafa Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), sign a peace agreement. [5]

1971

Top

Iran and Iraq break diplomatic relations in their dispute over control of the Shatt-al Arab waterway. ( 4)

1972

Top

Apr [4]

A 15-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation is signed between Iraq and the Soviet Union. [5]

Jun

U.S. President Nixon and Henry Kissinger agree with the Shah of Iran and Israel to back Iraqi Kurds in revolt against Baghdad. Iraq nationalizes the IPC. The country is placed on the State Department's list of nations supporting terrorism. ( 4)

xxx

Iraq nationalizes the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC). [5]

1974

Top

xxx

In implementation of the 1970 agreement, Iraq government grants limited autonomy to the Kurds but the KDP rejects it. [5]

1975

Top

Mar

At a meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) in Algiers, Iraq and Iran sign a treaty ending their border disputes. [5]  Saddam Hussein and the Shah of Iran agree to joint control over the Shatt-al Arab, outside aid to the Kurds is halted, leaving thousands of Kurds subject to reprisals from Baghdad. ( 4)

1979

Top

Jan - Feb

Following the overthrow of the Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini takes power in Iran. He and Iraqi Shiite leaders launch ever more virulent attacks on Iraq's Baath government. ( 4)

16 Jul

President Al-Bakr resigns and is succeeded by Vice-President Saddam Hussein. [5]  President al-Bakr is forced out by Saddam Hussein, who initiates a bloody purge. ( 4)

Nov

Fifty-four American diplomats in Tehran are taken hostage. Tensions soar between the U.S. and Iran, as well as between Iran and Iraq. Forty thousand Iraqi Shiites are expelled to Iran. ( 4)

1980

Top

Jan

President Carter proclaims what becomes known as the "Carter Doctrine": The U.S. -will intervene militarily to prevent any other power from gaining control of the strategically vital Gulf. ( 4)

1 Apr

The pro-Iranian Dawah Party claims responsibility for an attack on Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, at Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad. [5]

4 Sep

Iran-Iraq war: Iran shells Iraqi border towns (Iraq considers this as the start of the Iran/Iraq war). [5]  Iraq invades Iran, launching the Iran-Iraq war. ( 4)

17 Sep

Iraq abrogates the 1975 treaty with Iran. [5]

22 Sep

Iraq attacks Iranian air bases. [5]

23 Sep

Iran bombs Iraqi military and economic targets. [5]

1981

Top

7 Jun

Israel attacks an Iraqi nuclear research centre at Tuwaythah near Baghdad. [5]

1982

Top

Massive weapons shipments from the Soviets and the West arm both Khomeini and Saddam. Iraq is removed from the U.S.'s terrorist nation list to facilitate aid and arms sales and the sharing of intelligence. ( 4)

1983

Top

President Reagan sends Donald Rumsfeld as a special envoy to Saddam to improve relations with Iraq.( 4)

1984

Top

The U.S restores full diplomatic relations with Iraq. President Reagan authorizes increased support of Baghdad, though the U.S. is aware that Saddam is still using chemical weapons.( 4)

1985

Top

The U.S. and Israel begin supplying American-made arms to Iran in what will become known as the Iran-Contra scandal when it is revealed in September 1986.( 4)

1986

Top

After Iran captures the Faw peninsula, the U.S. again increases aid to Iraq.( 4)

1987

Top

The U.S. attacks Iranian oil platforms.( 4)

1988

Top

Feb

The al-Anfal campaign in Kurdistan begins.[5]

16 Mar

Iraq is said to have used chemical weapons against the Kurdish town of Halabjah .( 4) [5]

May

Despite efforts by Pentagon experts and others to restrict trade to Iraq, the U.S. Commerce Department opens the door to wider sales of sophisticated dual-use equipment to Baghdad. The Atlanta Branch ofItaly's Banco Nazionale del Lavoro makes considerable loans to Iraq.( 4)

20 Aug

A ceasefire comes into effect to be monitored by the UN Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group (Uniimog). [5] Iraq and Iran sign a cease-fire, ending their eight-year war. Despite this, AI-Aufal continues.( 4)

Sep

U.S. officials admit that Iraq is using chemical weapons against the Kurds. The Reagan administration continues to resist sanctions against Iraq.( 4)

1989

Top

U.S. War Plan ID02, originally conceived to counter a Soviet threat, is modified by Norman Schwartzkopf to target Iraq as the main potential threat in the region.( 4)

Oct

U.S. President Bush signs a secret National Security Directive (NSD-26) declaring the intention to wean Saddam from his tyrannical ways by encouraging more U.S. trade and investment.( 4)

Nov

CIA Director William Webster and the head of Kuwaiti State Security meet and agree to pressure Saddam to recognize Kuwait's border.( 4)

Dec

Saddam's scientists test a three-stage rocket that could deliver a warhead over a distance of a thousand miles.( 4)

1990

Top

Jan

George H. W. Bush overrides congressional objections and authorizes a new line of credit for Iraq from the U.S. Ex-1m Bank, worth nearly $200 million.( 4)

15 Mar

Farzad Bazoft, an Iranian-born journalist with London's Observer newspaper, accused of spying on a military installation, is hanged in Baghdad. [5]

May

Saddam accuses other Gulf states of waging economic war against Iraq by increasing oil production and refusing to forgive Iraq's loans.( 4)

Jul

Iraqi troops mass near the Kuwaiti border. Various U.S. officials declare U.S. has no treaty ties to defend Kuwait.( 4)

2 Aug

Iraq invades Kuwait and is condemned by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 660 [6] which calls for full withdrawal [5]. President George H. W. Bush adopts a hard line, refusing any proposals other than an immediate and total withdrawal of Iraqi troops.( 4)

6 Aug

UNSC Resolution 661[7] imposes economic sanctions on Iraq [5]. UN Resolution 661 cuts off all trade with Iraq, which had been importing 70 percent of its food.( 4)

8 Aug

Iraq announces the merger of Iraq and Kuwait. [5]

29 Nov

UNSC Resolution 678 [8] authorizes the states cooperating with Kuwait to use "all necessary means" to uphold UNSC Resolution 660  if Iraq doesn't withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 199I [5, 6]. The U.N. Security Council never explicitly authorizes the use of force [8] in spite of many media interpreting it as such, for example the BBC.( 4)

Dec

Infant mortality in Iraq has doubled due to sanctions. Standards of health and nutrition will plummet over the following years.( 4)

1991

Top

Jan

The U.S. Congress authorizes the president to use force if Saddam doesn't withdraw by January 15.( 4)

16 -17 Jan

The Gulf War starts when the coalition forces begin aerial bombing of Iraq  and Kuwait that will last forty-two days, is launched. ("Operation Desert Storm").( 4) [ 5]

Feb

President George H.W. Bush urges the Iraqi people to overthrow Saddam. Despite a promise by Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, the U.S. launches a ground assault known as Operation Desert Sabre. As Saddam's forces are quickly beaten, uprisings among Shiites in southern Iraq begin.( 4)

13 Feb

US planes destroy an air raid shelter at Amiriyah in Baghdad, killing more than 300 people. [5]

24 Feb

The start of a ground operation which results in the liberation of Kuwait on 27 February. [5]

3 Mar

Iraq accepts the terms of a ceasefire [5]. The U.S. and Iraq sign a cease-fire allowing Iraq to continue to use military helicopters that will be deployed to suppress internal revolt. A Kurdish uprising begins.( 4)

Mid-Mar / early Apr

Iraqi forces suppress rebellions in the south and the north of the country. [5]

8 Apr

The U.N. Security Council votes to keep sanctions (except for foodstuffs) [9] against Iraq in place. The U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) is established to ensure Iraq is free of weapons of mass destruction and to establish a long-term monitoring program, along with inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency. President Bush establishes a safe zone for the Kurds in northern Iraq, but not for Shiites in the south [4].
A plan to establish a UN safe-haven in northern Iraq to protect the Kurds is approved at a European Union meeting [5].

10 Apr

USA orders Iraq to end all military activity in this area. [5]

1992

Top

26 Aug

A no-fly zone, which Iraqi planes (which didn’t include helicopters) are not allowed to enter, is set up in southern Iraq, south of latitude 32 degrees north. [5]

1993

Top

27 Jun

US forces launch a cruise missile attack on Iraqi intelligence headquarters in Baghdad in retaliation for the attempted assassination of US President George Bush in Kuwait in April. [5]

1994

Top

29 May

Saddam Hussein becomes prime minister. [5]

10 Nov

Iraqi National Assembly recognises Kuwait's borders and its independence. [5]

1995

Top

14 Apr

UNSC Resolution 986 [10] allows the partial resumption of Iraq's oil exports to buy food and medicine ( the "oil-for-food programme"). It is not accepted by Iraq until May 1996 and is not implemented until December 1996. [5]

Aug

Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, Gen Hussein Kamel Hassan al-Majid, his brother and their families leave Iraq and are granted asylum in Jordan [5].  He tells U.N. inspectors that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were destroyed four years earlier.( 4)

15 Oct

Saddam Hussein wins a referendum allowing him to remain president for another seven years. [5]

1996

Top

20 Feb

Hussein Kamel Hassan al-Majid and his brother, promised a pardon by Saddam Hussein, return to Baghdad and are killed on 23 February. [5]

Mar

The WHO reports that child mortality in Iraq is up 600 percent since sanctions were imposed.( 4)

May

Modifications to the sanctions, known as Oil for Food, allow Iraq to export $1 billion worth of petroleum every ninety days to purchase food and essentials. The funds generated equal thirty cents per Iraqi per day.( 4)

Jun

-A plot to overthrow Saddam with the help of CIA agents planted with the U.N. weapons inspectors is discovered by Iraqi secret police. Eight hundred Iraqis are arrested. Another  CIA backed plot fails in Kurdistan.( 4)

31 Aug

After call for aid from KDP, Iraqi forces launch offensive into northern no-fly zone and capture Irbil. [5]

3 Sep

US extends northern limit of southern no-fly zone to latitude 33 degrees north, just south of Baghdad. [5]

Sep

On the eve of U.S. presidential elections, Bill Clinton launches forty-four cruises missiles against Iraqi military targets.( 4)

12 Dec

Saddam Hussein's elder son, Uday, is seriously wounded in an assassination attempt in Baghdad. [5]

1998

Top

Feb

Pressured by conservatives, Clinton signs the Iraq Liberation Action, allocating $97 million for training and equipping the Iraqi opposition.( 4)

31 Oct

Iraq ends cooperation with UN Special Commission to Oversee the Destruction of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (Unscom). [5]

16-19 Dec

Warned by the US of imminent air attacks against Iraq, the head of UNSCOM inspectors orders his staff to leave Iraq [4]. After UN staff are evacuated from Baghdad, the US (President Clinton) and UK launch a bombing campaign, "Operation Desert Fox",  four days of intensive bombing and missile strikes, to destroy Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs.( 4) [5]

1999

Top

19 Feb

Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, spiritual leader of the Shia community, is assassinated in Najaf. [5]

17 Dec

UNSC Resolution 1284 creates the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic) to replace Unscom.  It also expands the Oil for Food program. Increased petroleum sales now amount to about forty-seven cents per Iraqi per day [4, 5]. Iraq rejects the resolution. [5]
A UNICEF study concludes that half a million Iraqi children have died as a result of the sanctions.( 4)