The Byzantine-Sasanian War of 602-628 was the last and most destructive in the series of wars fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Persia . The Iran-Iraq War of 1980 to 1988 lasted eight years between the republics of Iran and Iraq, making it the longest war of the 20th century. The Byzantine-Sasanian War and the Iran-Iraq War were fought around trade, because the warring governments responded to the need for control of trade by fighting over vital areas of the trade routes. The Byzantine Empire was the predominantly Greek continuation of the Roman Empire. Empire of late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The Sasanian Empire was the last Iranian empire before the rise of Islam, ruled by the Sasanian dynasty from 224 to 651 CE. The Sasanian Empire, which succeeded the Parthian Empire, was recognized as one of the main powers of Western and Central Asia, alongside the Roman-Byzantine Empire, for more than 400 years. The Silk Road was a series of commercial and cultural exchanges. transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction across regions of the Asian continent linking the West and the East by linking China's traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks and soldiers to the sea Mediterranean at different periods. It was the most important trade route at the time and was very important to both empires. The Silk Road was essentially the only source of trade during the Byzantine Sasanian War. The war was fought for control of the Silk Road. The empire that took control of the Silk Road would control trade and be the most powerful. This gave rise to a race to gain control of the Silk Road which resulted in many battles taking place there. Transoxiana is the old name...... middle of paper...... y. The conflict lasted eight years and ended in stalemate, and involved the use of chemical weapons and ethnic violence against Iraqi Shiite Arabs, accused of collusion with Shiite Iran. Shatt Al-Arab was an oil port that was fought over in the Iran-Iraq War. They fought to obtain the great riches associated with it. The entire war was fought for control of the oil trade. Saddam Hussein would not have invaded Iran without the trade benefits. Shatt Al-Arab would not have been conquered without its commercial use. These warring nations fought, centuries apart, for control of vital trade routes. The winning nations were rewarded with great wealth and control over their commercial industry. The two wars were incredibly similar and, although they occurred centuries apart, they were fought for the same reason: control of trade..