31st Ashura Division ( fa, لشکر 31 عاشورا) was a

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

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 covers the provinces of

East Azarbaijan East Azerbaijan Province ( fa, استان آذربایجان شرقی ''Āzarbāijān-e Sharqi''; az-Arab, شرقی آذربایجان اوستانی) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is located in Iranian Azerbaijan, bordering Armenia, ...

, West Azarbaijan, and

Ardabil Ardabil (, fa, اردبیل, Ardabīl or ''Ardebīl'') is a city in northwestern Iran, and the capital of Ardabil Province. As of the 2022 census, Ardabil's population was 588,000. The dominant majority in the city are ethnic Iranian Azerbaija ...

. It was first officially organized as the 1st Ashura Brigade ( fa, تیپ 1 عاشورا) under command of Mohammad Ali Jaafari during

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, 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 S ...

, just before

Operation Muharram Operation Muharram (Persian: عملیات محرم) was an Iranian operation which was conducted during the Iran–Iraq War by the command of Hasan Bagheri. It was started on 1 November 1982 at 22:08 o'clock with the code of "La-Hawla wa La-Qowwa ...

. Its units had participated in various clashes after the

1979 Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. The brigade was later expanded into 31st Ashura Division. It participated in various operations of the Iran–Iraq War. Its notable commander was

Mehdi Bakeri Mehdi Bakeri ( fa, مهدی باکری‎; 1954 – 16 March 1985) was an Iranian war hero in the Iran–Iraq War. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tabriz. During the Iranian revolution of 1979 he joined the proteste ...

After Bakeri's death in Operation Badr, Amin Shari'ati was appointed as its new commander. The division was merged with the Basij of East Azerbaijan Province to form the East Azerbaijan Ashura Provincial Corps during the rearrangement of the IRGC units in 2008.

References

* http://www.mashreghnews.ir/fa/news/485060/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20160816095404/http://defamoghaddas.ir/fa/unit/%D9%84%D8%B4%DA%A9%D8%B1-31-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7 Military units and formations of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution East Azerbaijan Province West Azerbaijan Province Ardabil Province Tabriz {{iran-mil-stub