25th Karbala Division ( fa, لشکر 25 کربلا) was a division of the

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

. It covered the Mazandaran province, which also included Golestan province back then. It was first officially organized as the 2nd Karbala Brigade () during

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

, and was later expanded into a division. According to

Mohsen Rezaei Mohsen Rezaee ( fa, محسن رضایی, born Sabzevar Rezaee Mirgha'ed ( fa, سبزوار رضایی میرقائد) on 1 September 1954) is an Iranian Iranian Principlists, conservative politician affiliated with the Resistance Front of Islamic ...

, after a series of unsuccessful Iranian offensive operations in late stages of the Iran–Iraq War, it was decided to form several new brigades in the

IRGC The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

, and one new " special" division. The Karbala Division was later selected to be the special division. A team consisted of

Hossein Basir Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...

Mohammad Hassan Tusi Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monothe ...

, and other commanders were tasked to organize this division, and Morteza Ghorbani was appointed as its commander. Since then, the division was called 25th Karbala Special Division (). The division was employed in the

Operation Dawn-8 The First Battle of al-Faw was a battle of the Iran–Iraq War, fought on the al-Faw peninsula between 10 February and 10 March 1986. The Iranian operation is considered to be one of Iran's greatest achievements in the Iran–Iraq War. The Ir ...

, which was successful in capturing the strategic Al-Faw Peninsula. According to Iranian sources, Iraqi General

Maher Abd al-Rashid Maher Abd al-Rashid (Arabic alphabet, Arabic: ) was a General of the Iraqi army and a member of the Al-Bu Nasir (Iraqi tribe), Al-Bu Nasir tribe. Rashid rose to prominence during the Iran-Iraq war, and was regarded as one of Saddam's best generals ...

had described the unit as a "black scorpion" that should be destroyed, possibly a reference to their black frogman suits during the operation.

Sepah-e Karbala

The division was merged with the

Basij The Basij ( fa, بسيج, lit. "The Mobilization"), Niru-ye Moghāvemat-e Basij ( fa, نیروی مقاومت بسیج, "Resistance Mobilization Force"), full name Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin ( fa, سازمان بسیج مستضعفین, "The ...

of Mazandaran Province to form the Mazandaran Karbala Provincial Corps during the rearrangement of the

units in 2008.

References

External links

How was the 31st Ashura Division formed?
mashreghnews.ir
31st Ashura Division
defamoghaddas.ir {{Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Military units and formations of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution Karbala Division 25 Karbala Division 25