Iraqi soldiers at Qasr-e Shirin, Iran, June 1981
Courtesy Photri/Lehtikuva

Internal Developments and Security

In maintaining internal security, the Baath regime focused on three main sources of opposition--the Kurds, living primarily near the borders of Iran and Turkey, the ICP and its splinter factions, and Shia revival movements not in sympathy with Baath socialism. In dealing with these groups, the government tended either to provide them with benefits so as to coopt them into the regime, or to take repressive measures against them.

Data as of May 1988