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Iraq

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Iraq or Irak both: ēräkˈ, ĭrăkˈ [key], officially Republic of Iraq, republic (2005 est. pop. 26,075,000), 167,924 sq mi (434,924 sq km), SW Asia. Iraq is bordered on the south by Kuwait, ...

Middle East

(Encyclopedia)Middle East, term traditionally applied by western Europeans to the countries of SW Asia and NE Africa lying W of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Thus defined it includes Cyprus, the Asian part of T...

chemical warfare

(Encyclopedia)chemical warfare, employment in war of incendiaries, poison gases, and other chemical substances. Ancient armies attacking or defending fortified cities threw burning oil and fireballs. A primitive ty...

Soleimani, Qasem

(Encyclopedia)Soleimani, Qasem, or Qassem Suleimani käˈsəm Sōləmänˈē [key], 1957–2020, Iranian general. He joined the Revolutionary Guards following the 1979 revolution and was considered a hero of the Ir...

Bushehr

(Encyclopedia)Bushehr –shĭrˈ [key], city, SW Iran, on the Persian Gulf. It is one of the chief ports of ...

Kurds

(Encyclopedia)Kurds kûrds, ko͝ords [key], a non-Arab Middle Eastern minority population that inhabits the region known as Kurdistan, an extensive plateau and mountain area, c.74,000 sq mi (191,660 sq km), in SW A...

Diyala

(Encyclopedia)Diyala dĭyăˈlă, –ˈə [key], river, c.275 mi (440 km) long, rising as the Sirvan River in NW Iran and flowing SW through the Zagros Mts. into E Iraq, where it enters the Tigris River S of Baghda...

Khark

(Encyclopedia)Khark khärg [key], island, c.4 mi (6 km) long and c.2 mi (3 km) wide, SW Iran, in the Persian Gulf. Site of one of the world's largest deepwater oil ports, it is linked to the mainland by a 25-mi (40...

Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah

(Encyclopedia)Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah khōmāˈnē [key], 1900–1989, Iranian Shiite religious leader. Educated in Islam at home and in theological schools, in the 1950s he was designated ayatollah, a supreme...

war

(Encyclopedia)war, armed conflict between states or nations (international war) or between factions within a state (civil war), prosecuted by force and having the purpose of compelling the defeated side to do the w...