Saddam Hussein was the Dictator of Iraq at the time. He was concerned over a territorial dispute with Iran involving the Shatt al-Arab, which the river that separates the two countries. After the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Saddam began to feel directly threatened when Ayatollah Khomeini came to power along with his sudden changes. Saddam's decision to invade Iran was a costly one for his country. His purpose in the war was to over throw the Khomeini regime before the overthrew him. In desperation, Saddam used chemical warfare against his opponents destroying massive amounts of land. He even used chemical weapons against his own people; the Kurds of Halabja because he considered the  a treacherous fifth column. Because of the extremist leaders, the two countries clashed bring mass amount of stress and chaos.