In 1981, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain (an alleged Iranian front organisation), attempted a coup d'état. Their goal was the assassination of Bahrain's leadership and installing an Islamist theocracy with a cleric as supreme leader. The attempted coup and the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War led to the formation of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which Bahrain joined with Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The sense of regional uncertainty was further heightened when Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded Kuwait, triggering the 1991 Persian Gulf War.