The War In Iraq-iraq Relations

The relationship between Iraq and Iran is the most important in the Gulf and bears great significance to the changing situation there. The Iran-Iraq war that lasted 8 years in the 1980s made their relationship irreconcilable.The Iraq war that broke out in 2003 brought about tremendous changes to the landscape of international relations in Gulf and great transformation of Iran-Iraq relationship from rival to friend. As Muslim Shiites took power in Iraq, their influence was markedly increased in the Middle East such as in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pressed ahead with his tough nuclear policy after he took office; the regional anti-American radical power and the chaos in Iraq put America in a dilemma on the issue of withdrawal. All these factors got the Grand Middle East Plan Initiative foiled, making U.S. bogged down in an unprecedented political predicament, bringing grave challenges to its policy toward Iraq and uncertainties in the settlement of the problems there.In the future new Middle East, the complicated changes in the relationship between Iran and Iraq due to the U.S. involvement in Iraq after the war and the uncertainty in Iran and Iraq's internal affairs will make the two sides learn to deal with the bilateral affairs and respond to the regional situation development with a long-term and strategic perspective. All in all, the future Iran-Iraq relationship will evolve in the context of fighting for dominance in Gulf between U.S. and Iran, wherein Iran will play a role which can not be ignored and Iran will endeavor to turn the postwar Iraq into its security buffer in the process of stacking up against the United States.