Many believe that the number one cause for the gulf war was Iraq attacking Kuwaitt in 1990, but bad blood between the two nations would begin long before the attack of Kuwaitt over financial issues. In 1980 after several years of the leaders of the two nations, Iraq and Iran, despising one another and arguing over the Shatt al-Arab, which divided the two nations both nations were ready to fight. During the period of anomocity between Iraq and iran the president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, repeatedly, publicly said that it would be better for both sides to solve the problem without war but then out of no where attacked iran at Mehrebad airport on September 22, 1980. During the war Iran was attacking Iraq while also attacking Kuwaitt oil tankers at sea.The war continued between the neighboring nations for 8 years until in 1988 a truce was declared in . Kuwaitt lent Iraq 14 billion dollars to help stop the war and it did just that. Afer the war Iraq tried to