A master  thesis in the Department of History at the College of Arts at the University of Basrah examined the "Oil Tanker War and its impact on changing the course of the First Gulf War 1980-1988."

The thesis presented by the student Natiq Jassim Maktoof included four chapters (the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war and the beginning of the oil tanker war 1980-1984, the escalation of the oil tanker war and the position of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries on it 1984-1986, the expansion of the oil tanker war and the position of regional, Arab and international countries on its escalation 1986-1987, and the impact of the oil tanker war on ending the Iran-Iraq war 1987-1988).

The thesis aims to analyze the impact of the oil tanker war on the course of the First Gulf War, the extent of that war's impact on relations between Iran and the United States, and the economic devastation that befell shipping in the Arabian Gulf region.

The thesis concluded that the oil tanker war was a direct cause of the end of the Iran-Iraq war, as the study revealed the great deterioration that accompanied the global energy sources in the Arabian Gulf region, in addition to the great deterioration that the regional countries suffered as a result of that war. In contrast, the study clarified the great interference of the global powers in the Gulf region