Ba'athist Iraq Kuwait did nevertheless). Saudi Arabia, frightened by Saddam's military strength, then persuaded Kuwait to lower its oil output. However, when Kuwait lowered its oil output Venezuela increased its output. Saddam then ordered the invasion of Kuwait to solve the country's economic problems, with the professed goal of uniting Iraq; Kuwait was considered by many Iraqis as part of Iraq. On 18 July 1990 Saddam demanded that Kuwait repay Iraq for the oil it had (according to Saddam) stolen, and nullified Iraq's debt to Kuwait. The Kuwaiti leadership failed to respond, and on 2 August 1990 the Iraqi military began the
Invasion of Kuwait Republican Guard or fell back to neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Iraq set up a puppet government known as the "Republic of Kuwait" to rule over Kuwait and then annexed it outright, when Saddam Hussein announced a few days later that it was the 19th province of Iraq. When the Iran–Iraq War broke out, Kuwait initially stayed neutral and also tried mediating between Iran and Iraq. In 1982, Kuwait along with other Arab states of the Persian Gulf supported Iraq in order to curb the Iranian Revolutionary government. In 1982–1983, Kuwait began sending significant financial loans to Iraq. Kuwait's large-scale