Islamic Consultative Assembly and Termination of Iran-Iraq War

In the early years after the culmination of the Islamic Revolution, Iraqi invasion of Iranian territory was one of the most important political challenges for the newly established government. Due to Iran’s economic and military problems and empowerment of Iraq through international support, the war came to an end when Iran had to accept UN Resolution 598. To understand the importance of accepting the UN resolution and termination of the war, one should investigate the role of decision-makers. On this basis, this work - through a descriptive-analytical method and based on library sources and interviews - intends to study the role of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Iranian Parliament) in making decision to end the war. The principal question of the study is: What role and influence did the Iranian Parliament have in decision-making for Iran’s accepting of UN Resolution 598? Findings of this study indicate that such power institutions as the Leader’s Office, Supreme National Security Council, Iranian government with special authority in foreign policy, critical conditions at the time, confidentiality of the top decisions, slow process of decision-making in the Parliament due to its structural features, and disunion between the Parliament and influential institutions related to the issue paved the ground for the Parliament to be impressed by the decisions made at the other political institutions.