In Iran a Shiiite revolution was taking place and the shah was replaced by Ayatolla Khomeini. The Sunni leader, Saddam Hussein in Iraq was very concerned. Ayatollah Khomeini was anti-American so he supported Iraq in this conflict. The fear of revolution sparks war in Iraq. Iran and Iraq fought over the control of the Shatt Al-Arab and Arvand Roud waterway. The Arvand Roud was an important channel for the oil exports from both states were sent through there. This war was all about religion however, they claimed territory from each other. During the Iran-Iraq war, Kuwait had been a close ally and helped out with the finances for that war. When the war ended Iraq could not repay Kuwait. Iraq then decides to invaded Kuwait in 1990, where 30 countries joined a coalition against Iraq (including many Arab countries). Israel could not join for the fear of losing the support of the Arab countries. Kuwait was then liberated after four days. For the fear of losing the Arab support, George Bush Sr. did not invade Iraq or remove Saddam from power. Saddam fired upon Israel trying to get them involved. Threats of poison gas was present. Kuwait brought up the price of oil, and Iraq thought Kuwait was stealing from them. Kuwait refused to lower the price of oil and Iraq took that as a sign of aggression towards themselves.
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