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The Islamic Republic of Egypt Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, the Islamic Republic of Palestine, and Saudi
Arabia were embroiled in fierce combat over water, petroleum, and religion
that deteriorated into a war of attrition. Hundreds of thousands of Arab
and Israeli civilians fled the region to North Africa in hopes of escaping
the conflict. Tactical nuclear launches from Iraq on Saudi oil fields
and Israeli cities sealed the fate of the Arabian peninsula. Jerusalem
was evaporated in a nuclear fireball, evoking a full strategic response
from Israel. Iranian forces feared that nuclear weapons would then be
turned on them, so they launched their missiles at targets in Iraq, Saudi
Arabia, and the Israeli naval fleet in the Persian Gulf. Within hours
millions were dead as a result of the nuclear exchange. Many of the holy
sites the wars were being fought over were flattened into radioactive
glass. By the end of the second month after the use of nuclear weapons,
eighty percent of the remaining population was dead from radiation sickness,
hunger, dehydration, or illness. Fortunately, the nuclear devices used
were advanced, "clean" warheads bought from America or Russia.
The fallout (and, hence, the nuclear winter) was limited to the peninsula
and region surrounding Iran. Egypt remained out of the conflict, accepting
many of the refugees and purchasing land in Libya, Sudan, and Chad to
expand their borders and create space for the influx of population. Egyptian
Army outposts on the frontier kept the settlers safe and the border intact.
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