Saddam Hussein had a long fondness of Vietnam and admired the determination of the Vietnamese people.

[2] Saddam Hussein did not demand any payment from Vietnam over Iraq's assistance, and even erased all debts owed by Vietnam when Vietnamese Vice President Nguyễn Thị Bình visited Iraq in 2002.

[2] Although Saddam Hussein would be overthrown in 2003 following the American invasion of Iraq, this is still honored by later Iraqi leaders.

According from the memoir of Nguyễn Quang Khai, former Vietnamese ambassador to Iraq and a fluent speaker of Arabic language, the Vietnamese embassy was one of the few foreign embassies to remain untouched because of protection by locals, although suffering some damages.

[3] The Vietnamese government criticized the decision to wage war on Iraq led by the United States.