Even after the disastrous defeats of Iran’s military forces as well as indications that morale in the army and on the home front was collapsing, Khomeini made every effort to keep up appearances. Despite a growing pragmatism among many senior clerics, the Majlis election resulted in a victory for “candidates who called for the most extreme policies.” Propaganda broadcast to the Iranian people described the defeats as “planned withdrawals.” There is some indication the regime increased the naval confrontation with the United States in the Gulf – a set of incidents that contributed to the shoot-down of the Iranian Airbus A300 – to distract the Iranians from the bad news on the battlefield. Finally, confronted with the possibility of greater defeats at the hands of the Iraqis and growing opposition at home, Khomeini yielded to the advice of Iran’s senior religious and political leaders and agreed to a ceasefire.

On 20 July, the Grand Ayatollah announced to the Iranian people, “Taking this decision was more deadly than poison. I submitted myself to God’s will and drank this drink for his satisfaction.” Khomeini’s humiliation was hardly sufficient for Saddam. Shortly after the conclusion of the armistice, Saddam rubbed salt in his enemy’s wounds by commenting publicly on the ceasefire: