Iraq's imposed war on Iran(second stage)
The second stage of Iraq's imposed war against Iran, the pursuit of the aggressor started from the beginning of July 1982 and ended until April 15th, 1988.
Iran's armed forces, who now saw the enemy in a passive position, sought to punish the intruder inside Iraqi territory based on four strategies:
1. Making Iraqi forces retreat from Iran's borders and securing the western regions of the country.
2. Cutting off the north-south communication route of Iraq, capturing Basra and cutting off Iraq's connection with the Persian Gulf.
3. Seizing oil-rich and important cities in northern Iraq such as Kirkuk and Sulaymaniyah.
4. Moving towards Baghdad and overthrowing Saddam Hussein's regime.
However, the failure of major operations such as Ramadan (July 12th 1982) in the east of Basra, Pre- Fajr (February 5th 1982) in Fakka, Fajr One (April 9th 1983) in the north of Fakka, Kheybar (February 21st 1983) Badr (February 10th 1984) in Hur-ol-Hoveyze, Badr caused the Iranian military strategists to dispute with each other. In the meantime, some wanted to continue the war until the fall of Saddam Hussein, but others believed that after a great victory and the occupation of a sensitive area of Iraqi territory, the war should end. These failures, of course, caused another problem, and that was the emergence of differences between the commanders of the army and the Revolutionary Guards; In such a way that each commander determined to plan and implement the the operation separately.
February 1985
In February 1985, Iran's armed forces during the military operation called Valfajr 8 captured the strategic harbor Fav, and in this way, Iraq was deprived of its only coast in the Persian Gulf.
January 1986
A year later during the 5th Karbala operation, Shalamche area in Iraqi territory was attacked by Iran with the aim of threatening the city of Basra, which did not bring complete victory. Iran's military planners, who considered it difficult and expensive to continue operations in the south due to Iraq's knowledge of all available operational solutions and the lack of opportunities to surprise the enemy, focused on the northwest of the country to increase their chances of capturing important targets in that area, and to drag a part of the enemy's forces to the northern front.
The beginning of 1987 to the end of April 1988
Therefore, from the beginning of 1987 to the end of April 1988, major operations such as Karbala 10 (April 13th 1987) in the general area of Mavoot, Iraq, Beyt-ol-Moghaddas 2 (January 14th 1987) in Mavoot, Wal-Fajr 10 (March 14th 1987) were implemented in Halabche, Iraq. These operations did not produce good and permanent results due to the extensive use of chemical bombs and explosives by Iraqis even though some cities of Kurdish Iraq too were seized by our forces. In this situation, although the war was followed in the geography of Iraq, but by expanding the war to the Persian Gulf and the cities of Iran, Iraq had greatly increased the vulnerability of Iran in the war[1].
See also
Bibliography
- ↑ Azadegan Scientific Council. (2019). Azadegan Encyclopedia: Iranian prisoners freed in the war between Iraq and Iran. Tehran: Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies; Azadegan's message
Mustafa Rahimi