Ba'athist Iraq reducing international oil prices, further weakened the Iraqi economy. In response to this, Saddam threatened Kuwait that, unless it reduced its oil output, Iraq would invade. Negotiations broke down, and on 2 August 1990, Iraq launched an invasion of Kuwait. The resulting international response led to the Persian Gulf War, which Iraq lost. The United Nations (UN) initiated economic sanctions in the war's aftermath to weaken the Ba'athist Iraqi regime. The country's economic conditions worsened during the 1990s, and at the turn of the 21st century, Iraq's economy started to grow again as several states ignored the UN's sanctions. In
Armenians in Kuwait Armenians immigrated to North America. As of 2013, there are roughly 6,000 Armenians in Kuwait. As a result of the Armenian Genocide, many survivors were forced to first settle in the Levant including Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq. In 1958, the first wave of Arab nationalism appeared in Syria and Egypt. This did not sit well with the large Armenian communities in these countries. The establishment of the United Arab Republic triggered a mass exodus of Armenians to Lebanon (from Syria) and to Canada and the United States (from Egypt). Some Syrian-Armenians immigrated to Kuwait, when it was still a