The two arches mark the two entrances to Grand Festivities Square and the parade ground constructed to commemorate the Iran–Iraq War, started and led by Iraq's then-president Saddam Hussein.

In 1986 (two years before the war's end) the government of Iraq began the construction of a festival and parade ground in Zawra Park, near the extensive presidential complex in the center of Baghdad.

Adding to the festive appeal of the grounds were three refreshments booths that sold ice cream, cold beverages, and candy.

Iraq's leading sculptor, Khaled al-Rahal, won the commission to design and execute the construction of the arches, which were based on a concept sketch made by president Saddam Hussein.

However, al-Rahal died in 1987, before the monument was completed, and another eminent Iraqi sculptor, Mohammed Ghani Hikmat, assumed control of the project.

[5] The monument was built as part of a broader program to beautify the city of Baghdad and to create public works that would help to instil a sense of national pride within the population.

[7] The site selected for the monument was where Arabs defeated the Sasanians, a Persian empire, and is generally seen to be the beginning of Islamic domination of the region.

It has been suggested that this was an allusion to the slain Shi'a martyr Husayn ibn Ali, killed in Karbala in 680, whose death caused the rift between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

The decision to remove the monument, made by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, was challenged by US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who blocked the demolition on 21 February.

[13] The monument consists of a pair of outstretched arms which appear to be exploding out of the ground, each holding a sword which meet at a central point.

The swords, which are made of stainless steel, are based on the weapons carried by Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, the Arab leader at the Battle of Qadisiyya.