The United States now maintains that Saddam ordered the attack to terrorize the Kurdish population in northern Iraq .
Saddam 's regime claimed at the time that Iran was responsible for the attack which some including the United States supported until several years later .
The United States now maintains that Saddam ordered the attack to terrorize the Kurdish population in northern Iraq , but Saddam 's regime claimed at the time that Iran was responsible for the attack which some including the U.S. supported until several years later .