Iraq invaded which country in 1980, setting off an eight year war?

On September 22, 1980, formations of Iraqi MiG-23s and MiG21s attacked Iran's air bases at Mehrabad and Doshen-Tappen (both near Tehran), as well as Tabriz, Bakhtaran, Ahvaz, Dezful, Urmia (sometimes cited as Urumiyeh), Hamadan, Sanandaj, and Abadan. Their aim was to destroy the Iranian air force on the ground. They succeeded in destroying runways and fuel and ammunition depots, but much of Iran's aircraft inventory was left intact.

The Iranian defenses were caught by surprise, but Iraqi raids failed because Iranian jets were protected in specially strengthened hangars and because bombs designed to destroy runways did not totally incapacitate Iran's very large airfields. Within hours, Iranian F-4 Phantoms took off from the same bases. They successfully attacked strategically important targets close to major Iraqi cities, and returned home with very few losses.

In the end, the Iran-Iraq War permanently altered the course of Iraqi history. It strained Iraqi political and social life. It led to severe economic problems. This war continued to fuel 20th-century border disputes.

Finally, with Saddam Hussein's decision to invade Iran, it was a personal miscalculation based on ambition and a sense of vulnerability. Saddam Hussein's decision to invade Iran also had historical precedent; the ancient rulers of Mesopotamia, fearing internal strife and foreign conquest, engaged in frequent battles with people who lived in the Persian Gulf.