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 Ahvaz–Susangerd 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):
- Nasr Command: (under command of Sardar Hassan Baqeri and Amir Hossein Hassani Saadi)
- IRGC:
- 7th "Vali-e-Asr" Brigade (1st Nasr)
- 27th "Mohammad Rasulollah" Brigade (2nd Nasr)
- 46th "Fajr" Brigade (3rd Nasr)
- 22nd "Badr" Brigade (5th Nasr)
- One battalion from 30th Armoured Brigade
- Army:
- 21st "Hamzeh" Division
- 1st Brigade (1st Nasr)
- 2nd Brigade (2nd Nasr)
- 3rd Brigade (3rd Nasr)
- 4th Brigade (4th Nasr)
- 23rd Special Forces Brigade (NOWHED) (5th Nasr)
- Six artillery battalions
- 21st "Hamzeh" Division
- IRGC:
- Fath Command: (under command of Sardar Gholam-Ali Rashid and Amir Massoud Monfared Niyaki)
- IRGC:
- 14th "Imam Hossein" Brigade (1st Fath)
- 8th "Najaf Ashraf" Brigade (3rd Fath)
- 25th "Karbala" Brigade (4th Fath)
- Two battalions from 30th Armoured Brigade
- Army:
- 92nd Armoured Division
- 1st Brigade (1st Fath)
- 2nd Brigade (2nd Fath)
- 3rd Brigade (3rd Fath)
- 37th Armoured Brigade (4th Fath)
- 55th Airborne Brigade (4th Fath)
- 151st Battalion (4th Fath)
- Eight artillery battalions
- 92nd Armoured Division
- IRGC:
- Qods Command: (under command of Sardar Ahmad Gholampoor and Amir Siroos Lotfi)
- IRGC:
- 31st "Ashura" Brigade (1st Qods)
- 21st "Imam Reza" Brigade (2nd Qods)
- 37th "Noor" Brigade (3rd Qods)
- 41st "Sarallah" Brigade (4th Qods)
- 43rd "Beit-ol-Moqaddas" Brigade (5th Qods)
- One battalion from 30th Armoured Brigade
- Army:
- 16th Armoured Division of Qazvin
- 1st Brigade (1st Qods)
- 2nd Brigade (2nd Qods)
- 3rd Brigade (3rd Qods)
- 58th "Zolfaqar" Brigade (4th Qods)
- One company from 254th Tank Battalion (5th Qods)
- Six artillery batalions
- 16th Armoured Division of Qazvin
- IRGC:
- Fajr Command:
- Army:
- 77th Infantry Division of Khorasan
- 3rd Brigade
- 77th Infantry Division of Khorasan
- IRGC:
- 17th "Ali ibn Abi Taleb" Brigade
- 33rd "Al-Mahdi" Brigade
- 35th "Imam Sajjad" Brigade
- Army:
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:
- Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
- Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation:
- 96 helicopters were involved, including (sources differ on numbers): 24-26 Bell AH-1J International, 22-32 Bell 214, 6-16 Boeing CH-47 Chinook, 16-32 Bell 206 helicopters
- Islamic Republic of Iran Navy's Takavar units
Iraq
Iraqi units involved in the operation were as follows:[5][2][3]
- 3rd Armoured Division
- 6th Armoured Brigade
- 12th Armoured Brigade
- 53th Armoured Brigade
- 8th Mechanized Brigade
- 6th Armoured Division
- 16th Armoured Brigade
- 30th Armoured Brigade
- 25th Mechanized Brigade
- 7th Armoured Division
- 9th Armoured Division
- 35th Armoured Brigade
- 43th Armoured Brigade
- 14th Mechanized Brigade
- 12th Armoured Division
- 37th Armoured Brigade
- 46th Mechanized Brigade
- 10th Armoured Division
- 17th Armoured Brigade
- 24th Mechanized Brigade
- 5th Mechanized Division
- 26th Armoured Brigade
- 55th Armoured Brigade
- 15th Mechanized Brigade
- 20th Mechanized Brigade
- 11th Infantry Division
- 44th Infantry Brigade
- 48th Infantry Brigade
- 49th Infantry Brigade
- 22nd Infantry Brigade
- 45th Infantry Brigade
- 113th Infantry Brigade
- 7th Infantry Division (I Corps)
- 19th Infantry Brigade
- 39th Infantry Brigade
- 15th Infantry Division
- 10th Independent Armoured Brigade
- Republican Guards:
- 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 416th, 417th, 601st, 602nd, 603rd, 119th brigades
- 10th Armoured Brigade
- 109, 419, 416, 90, 417, 601, 602, 605, 606, 409, 238, & 501st Independent Infantry Brigades
- 9th, 10th, 20th, 113th Border Guard Brigades
- 33rd Special Forces Brigade
- Thirty commando companies
- Popular Army:
- 10 units, 450 fighters each
- "Saif Saad" Independent Tank Battalion
- "Hattin", "Salah al-Din" & "Hanin" reconnaissance battalions
- Thirty artillery battalions
- Iraqi Air Force
- Iraqi Army Air Corps
References
- ↑ http://www.iranreview.org/content/Documents/Khorramshahr-Liberation-Day-24-May-1982.htm
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www7.irna.ir/fa/News/81615445/
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ aja.ir
- ↑ http://www.aviny.com/occasion/enghelab_jang/3khordad/83/beitolmoghaddas/beitolmoghaddas.aspx
- The Iran–Iraq War 1980-1988; Karsh, Efraim; Osprey Publishing; 2002
- http://www.aja.ir/portal/Home/ShowPage.aspx?Object=News&CategoryID=31181e33-a5ba-4aa4-96ac-d4af5d174bc2&WebPartID=44f1e8b7-bb76-4037-9172-315858616c2c&ID=0225efab-94ae-4f01-aed5-2e6a3c09c197