Muslim cleric Ruhollah Khomeini ascends to power in Iran in the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Seeking to take advantage of a tumultuous Iran, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein commands his forces to invade his neighbouring rival.
Following crushing defeats at Abadan and Khorramshahr, Iraqi forces defend their homeland against waves of attacks by Iran's fanatic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The Iranians enlist Iraqi Kurdish fighters to revolt against Saddam Hussein.
Akbar Rafsanjani's ambitious plan to capture Basra fails, giving way to an Iraqi counteroffensive involving the use of chemical weapons. To resolve the Lebanese hostage crisis, the United States breaks its own arms embargo against Iran.
In retaliation to an uprising by the Peshmerga, Saddam Hussein unleashes a chemical attack upon the Kurdish city of Halabja. After their earlier defeat at Basra, Iraqi forces regroup to reconquer the al-Faw peninsula from the Iranians.
