Iran-Iraq War

The Iran-Iraq war is a formative and foundational sort of cultural moment maybe even more so than the revolution. Thousands upon thousands upon tens of thousands of irions go to the war front they fight and die get injured and come back as now disabled veterans. The US also while backing Saddam was secretly selling weapons to Iran to use the proceeds to fund the Contra war against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Even at a sort of ordinary people who are not thrilled with the Islamic Republic or even just sort of you know lukewarm on it this is a moment where everyone experiences the invasion of iraq as a real territorial threat and a threat to Iranian lives.