Iraq (The Great War Does Not Happen)

Iraq is a Shia majority country under Sunni minority rule. The country has been regarded as having one of the worst human rights track records in the world. Without the Iran-Iraq war, the sunni regime does not as heavily frown upon the kurds as they did in otl.

Early history
Baghdad was the capital of the caliphate which spanned the entire arab world. However, when it fell to the ottomans, the area fell into obscurity

Modern history
Once the ottoman empire fell, the british seized the area which would become iraq while the french got syria. On October 3, 1932, Iraq became an independent nation and later, even a republic. Unfortunately, the republic was overthrown in a coup led by Abd Al-Karim Qasim in 1952; this led to the baathist government that we see today. Overtime, other people took power and eventually, Sadaam Hussein assumed role as the dictator of Iraq. At first, Sadaam received huge backing from the UK since Iran allied itself with the germans. The british consumed iraqi oil, trained troops, and exported tanks. They even built 3 nuclear power plants in 3 major cities: Baghdad, karbala, and basra (mosul had a dam). This alienated the rest of the middle east prompting them to lean towards Germany. After great britain started getting along with germany, relation.s deteriorated. In 1995, The League of Nations placed sanctions on Iraq for developing a nuclear program. The country tested its first bomb in the empty dunes of anbar on November 11, 2015. It was less powerful than the atomic bomb first invented by germany but regardless, it was a nuclear bomb.

Today
Iraq is currently dealing with heavy sanctions and now, it has enriched enough uranium to make 5 atomic bombs (really small though). Despite the promise that europe wouldn't let Iraq expand or use its nukes, The borders of Iraq have been heavily militarized. Internet remains heavily censored and telephone calls leaving the country are nearly impossible. Today, tensions remain high between Iraq and the rest of the middle east.