Iraq was invaded by a country.
The Iran -- Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq lasting from 22 September 1980 , when Iraq invaded Iran , to August 1988 . Iraq ( [ ɪˈræk ] , [ ɪˈrɑːk ] , or [ aɪˈræk ] العراق ; عێراق ) , officially known as the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia , bordered by Turkey to the north , Iran to the east , Kuwait to the southeast , Saudi Arabia to the south , Jordan to the southwest , and Syria to the west . After an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003 , Saddam Hussein 's Ba'ath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005 .