Iran’s revolution in 1979 became a cause of instability for US interests in the Middle Ease and East of Asia. This slowly became an important factor for US foreign policy in the Middle East. Their concern was mainly on anti US strategy that Iran’s new revolutionary government was implementing. This wasn’t acceptable by the US government that the biggest country in the region with full control of Persian Gulf and comprise of ten present of world’s energy have negative approach towards US. Therefore, at the end of 1980, Saddam Hossain got the green light from Russia and US to attack Iran.

In 1978, Iran’s army was thirty percent larger than Iraqi army but as Iraq was preparing to attack Iran, Iran was involved in internal conflicts. Execution of high ranking military officers, dismantling army as whole, sanction, and leaving US military advisers and experts was just part of the problems which made Iran vulnerable to any foreign aggression.

At this time, Iran had 480 military planes, 3100 tanks and other armored vehicles, and 600 helicopters and Iraq had 335 military planes, 133 helicopters, and 4000 tanks and other armored vehicles but majority of Iranian army was spread out, army was in process of getting dismantled, and many soldiers were sent off home, as a result, Saddam and West believed that Iran had no chance of victory against any foreign attack.

Start of Second Longest War of Twenty Century

Saddam launched his attack when over fifty percent of Iran’s army was dismantled and many soldiers were sent home. Over 100 Iraqi warplanes toke off from four airports in Iraq and attacked nineteen cities in Iran. Their goal was to destroy Iranian planes on the ground and disabling Iran’s air force but one thing that Saddam didn’t know was that Iranian planes were protected by concrete buildings with over 1000 pilots ready to fly.

But Iraq used its heavy punch on the ground. Two campaigns from North (first corps), five campaigns from center (second corps), and five campaigns from South (third corps) were advancing fast toward industrial cities. Ordinary people and some of 92nd and 81st Khoram Abad mechanize divisions were the only group fighting against Iraq’s 250,000 soldiers.

Iran’s First Reaction

In Tehran, government officials were following the news with concern. They knew the first step must be slowing down the enemy advancement, so they used the only equipped division, air force. 200 planes toke off from different airports in Iran and they attacked all the bases, airports, radar stations, and important intelligent facilities except Al Validar airfield which was located in west part of Iraq. Next, Iranian F14s, F 5s, and hundreds of Cobra and Bell helicopters equipped with Maverick and TWO missiles, started hunting Iraqi tanks. This operation was so successful that in the first fifteen days of war, hundreds of tanks and thousands of Iraqi soldiers were killed.
But on the ground, some of Iraqi units like 10th armored division advanced deep inside of Iran and they were intending to have control over tactical roads such as Ahvaz – Khoram Shahr. The 1st mechanized division was also moving toward Fakeh - Shosh and planning to disconnect southern cities with other cites in the north. However, the most serious Iraqi division was 3rd mechanized division, 5th mechanized division, and 33rd Special Forces brigade. These units quickly passed Karon River and they were planning to occupy Abadan and Khoram Shahr cities but Ahvaz 92nd armored division and ordinary people stood and fight 19 days bravely and didn’t let these cities fall into Iraqi hands. During these days, Sosangerd, Boostan, Mehran, Dehloran, Ghasreh Shirin, Naft Shahr, Soomar, and Mosian cities fall but enemy still couldn’t capture important cities like Ahvaz, Dezfol, Abadan, Khoram Shahr, and Sanandaj. Finally after joining Iraq’s 11th infantry division, Khoram Shahr city was invaded and Abadan was surrounded. In center, Iraq’s 6th armored division invaded Ghasreh Shirin and 12th armored division invaded Somar and Naft Shahr.

Arrival of Iranian Army

Army armored divisions and infantry divisions which were not ready for the first few weeks of war mobilized and were the first group to be sent off to the area. Sepah (revolutionary military) and Basij (volunteers) were the next group. The first couple of operations against Iraqi army were not successful but doing these operations stopped Iraq’s advancement.

Iran Counter Attacks

After Iran successfully stopped Iraq’s advancement and the threat of full invasion was removed, Iran gathered its army and organized the first counter attack to break Abadan’s blockade. On Sep 27 1981, operation Samenol Aemeh began and in this operation Iran managed to crush Iraqi forces with heavy artillery and heavy air support and broke Abadan’s blockade in 48 hours.

Iraq toke the next hit on Nov 29 1981 in Dasht Azadegan front. This operation was named Tarighol Ghods and in this operation 32 battalions of army and Sepah attacked Iraqi troops from five different areas and hit Iraqi units hard. In this operation, over 10,000 Iraqis were killed or injured and over 170 tanks and armored vehicle destroyed and another 150 were captured by Iranian troops. After this defeat, Iraq lost its control over north part of Khozestan province and threat of invading of Ahvaz was removed. In this operation Iranian air force proved its superiority over Iraqis and in the ten day war, Iranian air force managed to shoot down sixteen warplanes and four Iraqi helicopters.

Two major defeats in two months and losing the upper hand was a major draw back for Saddam therefore by sending reinforcements to the south; he reorganized its troops and started planning for future attacks but in less than 4 months he got hit with two more major attacks.


Iranian army with the support of over one hundred thousand Basij and Sepah regrouped in south and organized the biggest attack from Shosh, Dezfol, and west of Karkhe River fronts. Iran launched its attack code name Fathol Mobin on March 21 1982, the Iranian New Year Eve. This totally supervised Iraqi troops because they never thought Iranian launch any attack on their new year. Iran launched this attack from several positions and they managed to create an opening in Iraqis defense line penetrate deep inside of Iraqis control areas. Iran closed Raghaghie and Eine Khosh straits and circled Iraqi troops and surrendered 15,000 Iraqi soldiers. Iraq air force was sent off to help and rescue surrounded soldiers while Iranian HAWKs and other anti aircraft missile were waiting for them. In the eight days operation, over 4000 Iraqis were killed, 15,000 were captured, and 27 war plans were shot down.

Right after Fathol Mobin operation, Iran launched its next operation to liberate Khoram Shahr city. On Apr 30 1982, Iran launched its attack with a code name Baitol Moghadas. Saddam knew that it is critical to keep Khoram Shahr under control or they will be pushed back into Iraq’s territory and that means defeat in all fronts. Iraq created a large defense line between Ahvaz and Khoram Shahr and used their new Mig 23s and Mirages that they have received from Russia and France and tried to take the air superiority from Iran but Iran changed its tactics and even due Iranian air force did not able to support ground forces like other operations but they toke this advantage from Iraq as well. In general, the extent of the battle was so widely extended that air force could not have a major impact on this operation. In this operation, Iranian troops passed Karon River and astound Iraqis and this time killed 16,000 Iraqi soldiers and captured 19,000 others in the 24 days battle. In this operation 5000 kilometers of Iranian territory was freed and 20% of Iraqi army were either killed or captured by the Iranian soldiers.


Iraq gets help

Losing Iraq in all fronts made US, Russia, and West very concern. One third of Iraqi armored and mechanized units were destroyed and bulk of their air force was deteriorated. It was clear that Iran can get to Basra whit couple of more operations and after that, Iraqi flat terrain wouldn’t be able to stop 1,000,000 Iran troops. Western countries decided that Iran should not enter Iraq territory therefore new era of arming Saddam and helping him financially started. In only two years, Arabs compensated over $55 billion dollars. Russians send their military advisers to help Iraq rebuild its military. French sold them advanced fighters and missiles. Americans provided Saddam with intelligent. These aids were the main reason that the next three Iran operations (Ramezan, Moharam, Val Fajr) had limited effects.


Using chemical weapons

On Feb 22nd 1984 Iran prepared a mighty army for operation Khaibar. Over 280 infantry, mechanized, and armored divisions who participated in this combat moved toward north of Basra. Iraq tried to defend its position with all its power but they could not withstand Iranian army and they had to pull back and leave Majnon Island for Iran. In order to stop Iranian advancement, Saddam got green light to use chemical weapons. Many Iranian soldiers got killed or injured because of chemical weapon but in this operation, over 1180 of Iraqis territory was captured by Iran.

Fave Conquest

Heavy attacks on Iranian cities caused Iran economy to crumple and this made officials to quickly find a solution to stop Iraq hostility. Here, Sepah commanders started planning for Val Fajr 8 operation. In this operation, over 100,000 soldiers from Sepah, Basij, and army participated.
This operation was one of the most difficult yet most important operations since begging the war because 140 infantry divisions of Iranian forces had to pass from wide Arvand River and face 200 mechanized and artillery divisions of Iraqi army. At this time of war, it was clear that western countries were providing satellite information of Iranian movements to Iraqi forces therefore it was essential to perform this operation in total stealth and secrecy. On February 11th 1986, Iranian divers passed Arvand River and captured mobile and military bridges. Then wave of fast attack boats covered Arvand River rushing to capture East of Arvand River the Iraq controlled area. On the east of river, Iraqi forces used mortars and heavy artillery to stop Iranian forces advancement and on the west side of the river, sixteen of Iran’s army artillery divisions, used the heaviest firepower since begging of the war to hit back at Iraqi forces.
After Iranian units successfully passed the river and positioned themselves inside of Iraq, Saddam’s generals promised him that either they will bury Iranian soldiers in the swamps or they will drown them in Shatt Al Arab (Arvand River).
With this promises, Saddam’s generals prepared the largest counter attack against Iranian forces since begging of the war. Iraqi troops supported by over 600 warplanes started their counter attack to stop Iranian advancements. With some of the disadvantages that Iranian forces had (tanks and other mechanized units were not able to pass from the river, fewer number of troops, and fewer number of planes) Iraqi troops managed to slow down Iranian advancement but these advantages did not last long. Iraq lost the control of the area after Iranian SAMs and other anti aircrafts missiles entered the battle. During few days, Iraq lost 39 of its war planes which caused Iraq to reduce it aerial operations. At the same time, army divisions moved forward to other areas of Val Fajr 8 operation and attacked Shalamche and Koshak cities to prevent Iraq from sending more reinforcements to Fave. After 70 days of heavy fight, Iraqi forces couldn’t push the Iranian troops back therefore Iraq decided to create a defense barrier. Iran by liberating Fave achieved two important tasks. Fist, Iraq lost its boarders with Kuwait second, Iraq was no longer able to access Persian Gulf.

West pressing Iran to accept the peace pact

The trip of McFarlin to Iran and West pressing Iran to end the war showed how concern they are about fall of Saddam’s regime. However Iran refused the peace pact and decided to continue with the war. This opened a new era of arming Saddam by the western countries.
Iraq at this time had 7000 tanks and armored vehicles, 2500 artillery, 600 war planes, 400 helicopters, and about 1,000,000 soldiers and more importantly, west was assisting Iraq with intelligent information. US, Russia, and Europe knew that this time, they had to use a different strategy in order to stop Iran’s advancement.

Ineffective Attacks

Iran had various victories in south and middle but on north, operation Val Fajr 9 and librating Salmaniyeh was ineffective due to Iraq advantages. Operation Karbala 2 was successful to some extent but had limited effect. In general, middle and north borders were engaged on many big and bloody battles but concentration of Iraqi forces in these two areas to protect Baghdad made it difficult for Iranian troops to pass Iraqi defense.
Also in south of Basra, although Sepah concentrated majority of their troops for this operation but US satellites noticed the Iranian troops movements therefore a day before the operation, Iraqi troops took control of major roads and positioned themselves in strategic locations. So the operation was halt after only 48 hours.

Another major operation on west and south of Basra with the code name Karbala 5 toke place which was one of the bloodiest clashes between the two forces since beginning of the war. Over 700,000 soldiers from both sides were involved in this battle. Over 200 battalions of Sepah and Basij launched their attack on enemy’s defense lines in Shalamcheh which lasted four weeks. This operation was very critical for both sides cause whoever won this battle could won the war cause majority of Iraqi troops were concentrated in this area. Saddam who believed he can defeat Iranian soldiers in this battle soon found out that he needs to call his republican guards.
Over 102 divisions of republican guards and special forces were dispatched to the area to join another 59 divisions of armored and mechanized units to create a defense line. Over 100,000 Iraqis were either killed or injured and after heavy fight they were forced to withdrawal.
After Karbala 5 victory, the treaty 598 was organized which concluded some of Iran’s requests for peace negotiation but it was not complying with all of Iran’s requests therefore, in less than one month, Iran launched its Karbala 8 operation from west of Basra.

Iraqi army hit back

Iraq army was taking lots of casualties and they did not have a motive for continuing the war. Some Iraqis preferred surrendering to Iranians than get executed by Saddam. Saddam realized that he needs to do something fast or he will lose the war so he asked other countries for help. Soldiers form 23 countries were sent off to Iraq to join Iraqi army. From regular Arab volunteers to Egyptian and Jordanian rangers and African snipers joined the battle. Now all they needed was something to boost their ego therefore on April 18th 1989, and with the help of US and Russia, and massive helicopter support, they recaptured Fave in 48 hours. At the same time, US navy entered the battle and sink one Iranian warship (Joshan) and damaged two others (Samand & Sabalan) but the most important tragedy that basically ended the war was shooting down an Iranian passenger airplane. This happened on July 3rd 1988 when USS Vincennes fired a single missile to Iranian passenger jet flight 655, killing all 290 passengers and crews on board. After this tragedy, Iran realized that US and the West would do anything to keep their poppet government even if that means killing innocent people therefore Iran accepted the 598 treaty and war was ended.