Neighbours from hell
Iran's rulers want Saddam Hussein to go, but dread the manner of his going, especially if his successors give rein to Shia free thought and Kurdish aspirations
NO COUNTRY, Iraq apart, has suffered as much at the hands of Saddam Hussein as has Iran. The war that followed Iraq's invasion of Iran in 1980 cost the country half a million lives, and around $70 billion. Iranians are the only non-Iraqis to have endured large-scale Iraqi chemical attacks. Immediately after Iran's 1979 revolution, Iraq stirred insurgencies both in Iranian Kurdistan and in Iran's Arab-dominated province of Khuzistan. When George Bush talks of danger emanating from Iraq, Iran listens.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline "Neighbours from hell"
From the December 14th 2002 edition
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