Iraq, 1964 — military coup attempt
Event Summary
The dataset records an attempted military coup in Iraq on 5 September 1964, during the pro-Nasserist government of President Abd al-Salam Arif, who had ousted the Baath Party in November 1963 and moved to align Iraq closely with Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt. In 1964 Arif pursued union with Egypt, creating a joint command and nationalizing major industries in imitation of Nasser's socialist measures, moves that unsettled various factions including remaining Baathists, communists, and officers opposed to subordinating Iraq to Cairo. This produced continued plotting against Arif's rule.
Any coup attempt in September 1964 came within that turbulence and did not unseat Arif, whose government weathered the challenges. Arif remained president until his death in a helicopter crash in April 1966, when he was succeeded by his brother Abd al-Rahman Arif, whose own government was overthrown by the Baath in 1968.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
64509051964
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Abd al-Salam Arif survived the September 1964 plotting and ruled until his accidental death in 1966.
Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
CSP
New York Times
Chicago Tribune
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →