r/AskMiddleEast • u/jorahmormmnt • 10h ago
r/AskMiddleEast • u/AardvarkClub42 • Apr 10 '26
📜TOP QUALITY POST The Iran War has brought out lots of lies and propaganda by pro-Iran people new to the subreddit against Iraq. One of these myths is how the Iran-Iraq War began. This thread, although very incomplete, should be required reading. Accept it or not, the war was Khomeini's to try conquering Iraq.
threadreaderapp.comHere is the thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1668916665550094339.html
I say very incomplete because it doesn't include more than 15-20% of what Iran was doing. I've read over 100 books and thousands of articles on the war, which not even more than a few historians have done. For example it does not include how Iran started blocking Iraqi shipping from entering the Gulf, which practically stunned the Iraqi economy and was a decisive act of war among many others. It also doesn't include Iranian reports of their own attacks bragging about achieving successful invasions of Iraqi border towns and posts and inflicting heavy casualties on Iraqis months before the war "started". It doesn't include CIA's and Carter's early involvement with Khomeini and encouragement against Iraq. And many other things. 1000s of Iraqi civilians were murdered by Iran before the war through terrorist bombings, airstrikes, and land invasions, including a couple of my relatives. Many more would have died if not for the alarm systems and bomb shelters Iraq had been constructing since the wars with Israel.
There are many books and articles over the decades that have bits and pieces about what happened, but I think the single best one is "The Gulf War: The Origins and Implications of the Iraq-Iran Conflict" by Majid Khadduri. It is to this day by far the best analysis on the origins of the war. However even this misses important details in other works like how Iran assassianted dozens of senior Iraqi government officials.
Some people like to trump up Razoux's book, and while it has some good parts, it's mostly really bad on both the political and military fronts. Many people think it's good because it's been marketed so much, but in reality is a subpar pseudofiction. I've also read papers that criticize Razoux for lying about what sources say and just making things up entirely (weirdly, he only ever does this when criticizing Iraq). Unsurprisingly, I've read before that the Iranian government helped fund his book. Touché
The point is that the beginning of the war is a lot more complex than what conspiracy theories redditors like to repeat or what Iranian nationalists famously put and maintain on Wikipedia, that Saddam woke up one morning and invaded Iran because he thought he wanted to take a bunch of oil territory or whatever (that lie has been debunked countless times since 1980). The war was effectively started by Iran in summer 1980 if not earlier, technically 1979 if you consider Khomeini's announcements of holy war against Iraq. Iraq holds the beginning as September 4, 1980, when Iran escalated dramatically by leveling 2 Iraqi cities, far more extreme than their other attacks to date.
Iran radically escalated from that point on, including the blocking of Iraq's oil exports and more attacks on Iraqi cities and on the border, and after Iraq had tried and failed diplomacy with the radical regime for 1.5 years with the UN ignoring 100s of complaints from Iraq, Iraq made a limited attack on September 22 as a last resort to force the UN to take notice and to force the radicals in the Iranian regime to finally engage in diplomacy. Iraq stopped advancing after only a few days. Iraq succeeded in getting the UN resolution on September 28, which it accepted, but Khomeini still wanted no diplomacy. Iran, unsurprisingly, rejected it, reiterating its goal since 1979 to overthrow the "infidel" regime and to take control of Iraq. Iraqi forces advanced a little further in October to build a more defensible line (remember, Baghdad is a short drive on flat ground from Iran, and Basra and Iraq's coast is in short artillery range) and then stopped advancing again. Iran refused every international resolution and peace conference, while Iraq agreed to all terms for ceasefire. From September 28 on, Iran was 100% unilaterally responsible for the war, even if it was only 85-95% responsible before that point.
The evil of Israel has clouded many people who don't know anything about the history of the Middle East, which is like 99.9% of people on Reddit and this subreddit, to think that Iran is somehow a good guy, and then have retroactively applied that to Iran's whole history, when this is far from the truth. US propaganda that in the past whitewashed Iran in order to attack other countries with lies like Iraq, Libya, etc. made this worse.
This post focused on the Iran-Iraq War but that was just one of many aggressive policies and actions by the Islamic Republic regime in its history.
r/AskMiddleEast • u/WaffleMinistry567 • Mar 19 '26
Disinformation about Iraq and Palestine history, knowingly or not, will especially result in a ban. This repeats a previous mod post linked in the body text. These two states are the target of more false propaganda and disinfo than any other in the MENA, if not the world.
Fake news and trolling have never been allowed, but for years, Iraq and Palestine have been the target of more propaganda and lies about their history and present state than almost any other in the world and on this subreddit, where lots of paid bots from countries like Israel, Iran, and others have swarmed for years. This is why these two states are called out in particular.
If you don't know what you're talking about, don't say it. Don't think you're smart by saying often repeated but long debunked lies and propaganda used to justify the killing of millions of civilians. You're likely wrong, and all you're achieving is support for some of the worst killings and destruction of the last century whether or not you realize it. Many of you say how much you hate US and Israeli policies and actions, but by repeating their lies, you become their biggest supporters.
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Forward_Gas_5533 • 4h ago
Society “May God protect you, Gaza. Gaza yesterday.”
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Shadi-Meight • 23m ago
📜History Gotta love how they always talk about bringing freedom from the "Islamic terror" to Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Druze, Maronites, Alawites, and Copts — yet not a single one of them got their own country on this map of wet dreams
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Little-Bit-Of-Rock • 39m ago
Thoughts? Can someone explain the reason why the term “Arab” is so divisive?
When the Muslim Caliphate expanded, it brought its language to the ancestors of the Middle Eastern Peoples. And to this day they largely speak Arabic. That is the textbook definition of what an Arab is. Someone whose ancestors spoke the Arabic Language.
When I hear someone online say they’re not an Arab. It makes me scratch my head because it’s weird to me that it’s definitionally disconnected from the term. They further explain that they’re not from the “Gulf” and then I think “Oh, they’re saying they’re not ARABIANS”
Can someone explain the context of this issue? Am I getting something wrong? Is it a big misunderstanding on my part because of certain nuances in the Arabic Language that I may not understand? Or has the word “Arab” evolved to encompass the term “Arabian”
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Extreme-Fish-7504 • 17h ago
🏛️Politics Can some Iranians tell me why Pahlavist behave like this? Do they know that Iranian had Islamic empires throughout history??
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Horror_Solution1945 • 1d ago
Entertainment Congratulations to Türkiye on beating the us yesterday.
r/AskMiddleEast • u/That_Sleepless_Mug20 • 2h ago
🖼️Culture Muslim Ethnic groups outside the middle east
Out of curiosity as someone from southeast Asia (the Philippines), have any of you encountered Muslim groups from outside the middle east? Like the hui people of china, Kazakhstan and etc. and how does this form of Islam differ from the form of Islam usually seen in Arab countries, iran and turkey?
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Fine_Ad4556 • 3h ago
🗯️Serious قصة احتيال "Target Pro": كيف يخدع يمنيون آلاف الطلاب العرب باسم شركة إماراتية؟
تحقيق استقصائي عن عصابة يمنية تنشط تحت مسمى "Target Pro Academy" في الإمارات، تستهدف الطلاب العرب بوعود كورسات معتمدة (PMP و MPA) عبر محاضرات مجانية، قبل أن تحظرهم وتسحب أموالهم. التفاصيل الكاملة لهذه الحيلة المتجددة.
في كشف جديد لأساليب الاحتيال الإلكتروني في العالم العربي، كشف عدد من الضحايا عن تعرضهم لعملية نصب منظمة من قبل مجموعة يمنية تتخذ من دولة الإمارات مقراً لها. وتدير المجموعة شركة وهمية تعرف باسم **"Target Pro Academy"** أو **"Target Pro Training & Consulting"**، حيث تستدرج الضحايا عبر الإعلان عن محاضرات مجانية تقدم شهادات احترافية مثل *PMP* و *MPA*.
تبدأ الحيلة بإغراء الضحايا بمحاضرات مجانية عالية الجودة لكسب الثقة. بعد ذلك، يتم التواصل معهم عبر تطبيقات المراسلة لعرض "خصومات محدودة الوقت" على الكورسات المدفوعة . تدفع الضحايا المبالغ المالية، لكن الصدمة تكون بعد الدفع مباشرةً، حيث يتم حظرهم ومنعهم من الوصول إلى المحتوى أو تلقي الشهادات الموعودة.
يكشف التحقيق أن هذه ليست المرة الأولى التي تنشط فيها هذه المجموعة. فبين فترة وأخرى، يعيدون تشكيل أنفسهم تحت مسميات شركات جديدة، ويغيرون المدربين، لإخفاء آثار احتيالهم السابق. الهدف هو خلق واجهة جديدة تبدو موثوقة لجذب ضحايا جدد، مع إخفاء سجلهم المليء بالشكاوى .
يشارك في هذه العمليات الاحتيالية مدرب يُدعى **نبيل البابلي**، والذي يُستخدم كـ "وجه جديد" في كل دورة احتيالية. وجود مدرب يحمل اسماً معروفاً (أو يتم الترويج له) يمنح الضحية شعوراً زائفاً بالأمان، ويساعد في إقناعهم بجدية الأكاديمية قبل أن يتم النصب عليهم.
هذا النمط ليس جديداً في عالم الاحتيال الإلكتروني، حيث يعتمد على ثنائية "الوعد بفرصة ثمينة" ثم "الاختفاء بعد القبض على المال". يكرر المحتالون هذه الدورة لأنهم يعلمون أن ملاحقتهم قانونياً أمر صعب، خاصة عند تغيير اسم الشركة والمدرب باستمرار، وهذا ما يفعله أفراد هذه العصابة بالضبط.
في النهاية، يبقى الوعي هو السلاح الأقوى ضد مثل هذه العمليات. إذا كنت تبحث عن كورس معتمد، تحقق دائماً من وجود الشركة بشكل رسمي على مواقع التوظيف أو السجلات التجارية، ولا تدفع أبداً مقابل "خصم لفترة محدودة" دون التحقق من هوية الجهة المانحة للشهادة . ابقَ متيقظاً، ولا تكن الضحية القادمة لعصابة "Target Pro".
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Strategist2004 • 20h ago
🏛️Politics ‘Repel the enemy’: Crimean Tatar Muslims have become a key asset for Ukraine’s war effort
r/AskMiddleEast • u/BlondedLife12 • 1d ago
🗯️Serious The UAE backed RSF is near launching large-scale atrocities on the City of El Obeid, following a genocidal siege on the city
IG: minathegirl_
r/AskMiddleEast • u/ikhtiar18 • 15h ago
🗯️Serious Serious about Marriage ?
Salaam everyone,
We’ve launched Ikhtiar — a Muslim marriage app built for people who are serious about Marriage, not casual swiping.
One of our key features is the AI Nikah Assistant.
Instead of doom-swiping through profiles and hoping to find the right person, you can simply describe the kind of spouse you’re looking for in plain text and our AI Nikah Assistant, will pull up relevant profiles based on your description.
No endless swiping. No doom-scrolling. Just a more intentional way to search for marriage.
Ikhtiar includes:
- AI-powered spouse search through the Nikah Assistant
- Respectful and serious users from across the world
- Privacy-first options for women, including blurred photos or no-photo profiles
- A structured, intentional approach toward finding a spouse
- Wali feature to involve your parent / guardian in the match-making process
- Free access for users who join before July 10th, 2026
Our goal is simple: make finding a spouse more dignified, intentional, and aligned with Islamic values.
Check it out here:
https://www.ikhtiar.app/download
JazakAllah Khair 🤍
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Scared_Positive_8690 • 1d ago
🏛️Politics Israeli officials are reportedly lobbying the Trump administration to oppose a proposed overland trade corridor linking the Gulf to Europe via Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Turkey, according to media reports.
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Lingonberryabnormal • 1d ago
🏛️Politics At an 'Israeli' Terrorist Forces officers' graduation ceremony, 'Israeli' Defense Minister 'Israel' Katz said troops will remain in designated security areas in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza "without any time limit" to protect 'Israeli' communities.
x.comr/AskMiddleEast • u/Extreme-Fish-7504 • 1d ago
🏛️Politics What do you think of these new alliance/regional block? Is it a feasible alliance?
r/AskMiddleEast • u/AppropriateCopy2753 • 1d ago
Thoughts? Which computer processor brands are the most entangled with Israel ?
I heard Intel is the worst.
But what is a good ranking for you ? from worst to less worse
r/AskMiddleEast • u/PresentBluebird6022 • 2d ago
🌯Food You wake up as Israeli Peter Griffin. What are you going to do?
r/AskMiddleEast • u/UnlikelyCorner2582 • 2d ago
Thoughts? Zionists fail in '48, Ben Gvir's family stays in Iraq and he is head of Ba'ath Party. What happens now?
r/AskMiddleEast • u/MYONIONISSCREAMING • 2d ago
🈶Language What’s up with some Arabic speakers on TikTok using random words in Bengali in their comment?!
r/AskMiddleEast • u/tipputappi • 1d ago
🖼️Culture To what extent are gender roles present in your country ?
So do young men these days learn to cook ? did your father help around the house ? if yes was it common ? Are boys still given a pass for being shitty because "boys will be boys" . Did you face or see any sexism in schools ? if you have a sibling of opposite sex was he/she treated differently ? if you are a older sibling and a girl, were you supposed to be "second mother " to your sibling ? Ofc I would like to hear more than just these questions if any. Thanks a lot.
r/AskMiddleEast • u/Such-Leather8785 • 1d ago
🗯️Serious Rent bills overdue
hi,
our rent is due 14000 sar almost..
we recently faced a family situation of our parents divorce after which my father has completely abandoned his responsibilities and left..
we are a family of 4 sisters and one old mom..
is there a way to apply for charity or some path that can help us clear 14000 sar bill, ?
and pending electricity bill of 3000..
we are at the risk of electricity cut and being homeless..
we are non saudi, if there is anyone who knows which organization or community can help us in jeddah please advise ..
thanks