Direct proof of use
The 9K31 Strela-1 appears in the 1990 Gulf War record through Iraqi air-defense order-of-battle sources that identify the system by its NATO reporting name, SA-9 Gaskin. Anthony H. Cordesman's CSIS Gulf War chapter states that Iraq had 400 SA-9 short-range missile fire units and separately describes dispersed, crew- or vehicle-deployed SA-9s and SA-13s.
A later CSIS survey of Iraqi forces also lists the SA-9 Gaskin as an Iraqi infrared, vehicle-mounted surface-to-air missile system alongside other Iraqi SAM families. Read together, the sources support Iraqi fielding of Strela-1 systems in the Gulf War air-defense network, but they do not establish a dated Strela-1 firing, target, or confirmed aircraft loss.
Sources: CSIS Gulf War Chapter Six, CSIS Iraqi Armed Forces On The Edge Of War
Timeline
Iraq invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990, bringing Iraqi regular forces and their air-defense equipment into the conflict represented here. By the opening of Operation Desert Storm's air campaign on 17 January 1991, coalition planning treated Iraq's integrated air-defense system as an early priority; short-range systems such as SA-9s formed part of the lower-altitude layer around Iraqi forces and defended areas.
The cited order-of-battle material places SA-9 Gaskin systems in Iraqi service during the conflict and describes them as dispersed vehicle-deployed missiles. The public sources used here stop at fielding and deployment evidence, so the record does not attribute any Gulf War aircraft loss to the Strela-1.
Sources: Gulf War Air Power Survey Summary Report, CSIS Gulf War Chapter Six, CSIS Iraqi Armed Forces On The Edge Of War
Narrative
The Strela-1's Gulf War role was short-range air defense. ODIN describes the 9K31 Strela-1 as a BRDM-2-based, low-altitude, infrared-guided surface-to-air missile system with four ready-to-fire 9M31 missiles. In Iraqi service, its NATO name, SA-9 Gaskin, appears with other short-range and mobile SAMs rather than with the strategic fixed-site SAM network.
That distinction matters for the conflict-use claim. The sources support possession and fielding by Iraqi government and security forces as part of Iraq's land-based air defenses, including dispersed vehicle-mounted systems. They do not support a more specific claim about who fired a Strela-1, where a particular battery operated, or what aircraft it engaged.
The conservative reading is therefore that Iraq fielded the 9K31 Strela-1 / SA-9 Gaskin during the 1990 Gulf War as a mobile, low-altitude air-defense system, while documented operational events remain limited in the cited public record.
Sources: ODIN 9K31 Strela-1, CSIS Gulf War Chapter Six, CSIS Iraqi Armed Forces On The Edge Of War
