The Iran-Iraq War set off a line of dominoes that would change the destiny of Iraq. When Saddam Hussein invaded Iraq, his neighbours gave him amenities such as oil, with the expectation that they would be paid off. After Iraq was defeated in the Iran-Iraq War, it's economy was in such a perilous state that it couldn't pay it's neighbours, so under the guise of protecting Iraqi oil from Kuwaiti slant-drilling, Saddam invaded Kuwait, which led to the Persian Gulf War. Iraq's defeat in said war further plunged Iraq into poverty, with the Iraqi military smashed to pieces.
One of the reasons why Saddam invaded Iran (aside from territorial disputes in regards to Khuzestan and the Shat-al-Arab waterways) was because the then-recent Islamic Revolution which put Ayatollah Khomeini into power.
So, in a timeline where the 1979 Islamic Revolution either never happens or a somewhat secular government comes to power as a result of it, what if the Iran-Iraq War never happened?
One of the reasons why Saddam invaded Iran (aside from territorial disputes in regards to Khuzestan and the Shat-al-Arab waterways) was because the then-recent Islamic Revolution which put Ayatollah Khomeini into power.
So, in a timeline where the 1979 Islamic Revolution either never happens or a somewhat secular government comes to power as a result of it, what if the Iran-Iraq War never happened?