After eight years of grinding warfare that had killed approximately one million people, Iraq and Iran agreed to a ceasefire in 1988. The agreement came through UN Resolution 598, which Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini had initially rejected as an insult to Islamic dignity. His acceptance of the ceasefire, which he famously compared to drinking poison, marked the end of an era.

Resolution 598 and Iran's Resistance

The UN Security Council passed Resolution 598 in July 1987, calling for an immediate ceasefire. Iraq accepted the resolution almost immediately. Iran rejected it, arguing that Iraq was the aggressor and must pay reparations and accept responsibility for the war.

Iran's resistance to the ceasefire was understandable from a perspective of justice: Iraq had invaded, Iraq had used chemical weapons, Iraq had received international support. Yet from a perspective of military capability and economic viability, Iran was in no position to continue fighting.

The Breaking Point

By spring 1988, Iran was exhausted. The economy was in shambles. The military, worn down by eight years of attritional warfare, was losing ground. Iraq's final offensives in the summer of 1988 captured territory that Iran had held. The Faw Peninsula, which Iran had captured in 1986, was lost.

Most significantly, the use of chemical weapons by Iraq, the continued support from the international community for Iraq, and the lack of meaningful international response to Iranian grievances convinced Iran's leadership that the war could not be won.

Khomeini's Poisoned Chalice

On July 18, 1988, Khomeini announced Iran's acceptance of UN Resolution 598. In a statement that became famous, he said: 'Taking this decision was more deadly than drinking poison.' He justified the ceasefire by saying that accepting it served the interests of the revolution.

Khomeini's acceptance of the ceasefire was a stunning reversal from years of rhetoric declaring that the war must continue until Iraq was defeated and Saddam was overthrown. For the revolutionary government, accepting a ceasefire with an 'unjust aggressor' was a fundamental compromise of principles.

The Outcome

The ceasefire went into effect on August 20, 1988. After eight years of war, the shooting finally stopped. The borders between Iraq and Iran remained essentially where they had been in 1980. Neither side had achieved its political objectives. Iraqi territorial gains in the first year had been reversed.

One million people were dead. Millions more were wounded or disabled. Both countries' economies were devastated. The war had solved none of the underlying disputes between Iraq and Iran. Yet both sides were too exhausted to continue fighting.