33rd Al-Mahdi Division ( fa, لشکر 33 المهدی (عج), named after the twelfth

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

Imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

Al-Mahdi Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr ( ar, أبو عبد الله محمد بن عبد الله المنصور; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name Al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abba ...

) was a

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

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 was established on 24 February 1982 before

Operation Fath ol-Mobin Operation Fath-ol-Mobin ( fa, عملیات فتح‌المبین, a Quranic phrase meaning "Undeniable Victory" or "Manifest Victory") was a major Iranian military operation conducted during the Iran–Iraq War, in March 1982. The operation was ...

in the

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 ...

, with Ali Fazli as its commander. It was part of the

7th Fajr Division 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

for some time during the war. After

Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas ( fa, عملیات بیت‌المقدس) or Operation Toward Beit-ol-Moqaddas () was an Iranian operation conducted during the Iran–Iraq War. The operation was a success, as it achieved its standing aim of libera ...

, there was some reform in the structure of the brigade, and Mohammad Jaafar Asadi was made as the commander, and remained the commander of the unit until the end of the war. On 24 April 1983 the brigade was separated from the 19th Fajr Division and became part of the newly founded 7th Corps. The brigade was turned into the 33rd Al-Mahdi Division () after the successful

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 ...

. After Iraqi's adoption of new defensive tactics in 1986, Iran begin creating new "Qaem" units, and the independent 326th Qaem Unit of Fars () was founded on 25 May 1986 under command of Abdol-Ali Najafi, which were consisted of forces from the 33rd Division. It was stationed in

Haj Omran Haji Omeran ( ku, حاجی ئۆمەران ,Hacî Omeran; ar, حاج عمران), is a town located in Iraqi Kurdistan's Arbil province near the Iran–Iraq border. It is 180 kilometers northeast of the Arbil and 20 kilometers east of the Choman. ...

area in the Shahid Sadr Highlands. It also participated in

Operation Karbala-2 Operation Karbala-2 ( Persian: عملیات کربلای 2) was an Iranian operation during Iran–Iraq War which was launched on 1 September 1986 in Haji Omeran area in Iraq with the command/participation of a brigade from Seyyed-al-Shohada ...

. It was later merged with the Al-Mahdi Division. After the Iran-Iraq war, Al-Mahdi Division was separated into two units: 33rd Al-Mahdi Airborne Brigade () under command of Hojjatollah Azarpeykan, stationed in

Jahrom County Jahrom County ( fa, شهرستان جهرم) is located in Fars province, Iran. The capital of the county is Jahrom. At the 2006 census, the county's population (including those portions of the county later split off to form Khafr County) was 1 ...

, Fars Province; and 3rd Ansar-ol-Hojjat Brigade (), as part of 19th Fajr Division, under command of Abdol-Ali Najafi stationed in

Fasa County Fasa County ( fa, شهرستان فسا) is located in Fars province, Fars province, Iran. The capital of the county is Fasa. At the 2006 census, the county's population was 188,189, in 45,333 households. Retrieved 30 October 2022 The following ...

, Fars Province. 33rd Al-Mahdi Airborne Brigade has been active in

Iran–PJAK conflict The Iran–PJAK conflict is an armed conflict between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kurdish rebels of the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), which began in 2004. The group has carried out numerous attacks in the Kurdistan Province of Iran and ...

References

{{Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Military units and formations of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution Airborne units and formations of Iran