Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas

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Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas (Jerusalem) (Persian: عملیات بیت‌المقدس‎‎) was an Iranian operation conducted during the Iran–Iraq War. The operation was a success, in as so far as it achieved its standing aim of liberation of Khorramshahr and pushing Iraqi troops back to the border. This operation, coupled with Operation Tariq al-Qods, and Operation Undeniable Victory, succeeded in evicting Iraqi troops from southern Iran and was the turning point in the war, as Iran gained the momentum.

Prelude

On September 22, 1980, because of his desire that Iraq should have complete dominance over the Shatt al-Arab(or the Arvand Rūd) waterway, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declared war against Iran and launched a land invasion of southern Iran, although operations did occur elsewhere on the Iran-Iraq border. After achieving successes due to the post-Revolution military and political chaos in Iran, Saddam Hussein ordered that the Iraqi troops 'dig-in' on the front line. He hoped that this would show the world that he cared about the fate of the Iranian people, and that he was only concerned with achieving his aim of securing the entire Shatt al-Arab waterway; which had been under dispute since the 1975 Algiers Agreement had been under some strain. However, since the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979; Iraq had felt that it was necessary to assume what it wanted through force, and that it was no use trying to negotiate with the revolutionary Iranian government.

Once the Iraqi forces had settled, the Iranians were planning a series of operations designed to evict the Iraqis from southern Iran, of which Operation Tariq al-Qods was one.

Battle

The Iranians attacked, with some 70,000 fighters in the AhvazSusangerd area. The Iraqi forces in the area withdrew, and strengthened the defenses of Khorramshahr.

The Iraqis launched a counter-offensive on 20 May. However, despite its scale, the Iranians were able to repulse the attack.

On 22 May, the Iranians liberated Khorramshahr; the vitally strategically and symbollicaly important Iranian city whose capture by Iraq had been the low-point of Iranian fortunes in the early days of the war

The Iraqis were ordered to retreat, although many had done when Khorramshar had fallen, back into Iraq. The Iranians captured 15,000-19,000 Iraqi troops and a substantial amount of Iraqi military hardware in Khorramshahr.

The numbers of casualties sustained by Iraq and Iran are unknown; but it is likely that there was not marked a difference between both sides. Iranian forces was a combination of regular Army together with Pasdaran and Basij fighters, which it would come to rely on later in the war from 1983 onwards.

The commander of the Iraqi forces in the city, Colonel Ahmad Zeidan, attempted to flee, but was trapped in a minefield which was set up on his orders and killed when he stepped on a mine.[1]

Units

Iran

Iranian units involved in the operation were as follows:[2][3] Each IRGC battalion was consisted of 300 Basij volunteers at most, while each Army battalion was around 2.5 times bigger. However, the number of battalions in each IRGC brigade was bigger than those of the Army.[4]

Karbala Central Command (under command of Sardar Mohsen Rezaei and Amir Ali Sayyad Shirazi):

Combat engineer units of the Army include:

  • Combat Engineer Battalion of 21st Division
  • Combat Engineer Battalion of 92nd Division
  • Combat Engineer Battalion of 16th Division
  • 411th Combat Engineer Section of Boroujerd
  • 411th Pontoon Bridge Battalion
  • 414th Combat Engineer Battalion
    • "Zafar" Company

Other units include:

Iraq

Iraqi units involved in the operation were as follows:[5][2][3]

References