Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas ( fa, عملیات بیت‌المقدس) or Operation Toward Beit-ol-Moqaddas () was an Iranian operation conducted during 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 Counci ...

. The operation was a success, as it achieved its standing aim of liberating Khorramshahr and pushed Iraqi troops back to the border. This operation, coupled with Operation Tariq-ol-Qods, and Operation Fath-ol-Mobin, succeeded in evicting Iraqi troops from southern Iran and gave Iran the momentum.

Prelude

On 22 September 1980, because of his desire that Iraq should have complete dominance over the

Shatt al-Arab The Shatt al-Arab ( ar, شط العرب, lit=River of the Arabs; fa, اروندرود, Arvand Rud, lit=Swift River) is a river of some in length that is formed at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the town of al-Qurnah in ...

(or the Arvand Rūd) waterway, Iraqi

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

declared war against Iran and launched a land invasion of southern Iran, although operations did occur elsewhere on the

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

–

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political bo ...

. After achieving successes due to the post-Revolution military and political chaos in Iran, Saddam Hussein ordered that the Iraqi troops "dig-in" on the front line. He hoped that this would show the world that he cared about the fate of the Iranian people, and that he was only concerned with achieving his aim of securing the entire Shatt al-Arab waterway, which had been under dispute since the 1975 Algiers Agreement. However, since the

Islamic 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 ...

of Iran in 1979, Iraq had felt that it was necessary to assume what it wanted through force, since previous attempts in getting the revolutionary Iranian government to negotiate a new settlement had proved fruitless. Once the Iraqi forces had settled, the Iranians were planning a series of operations designed to evict the Iraqis from southern Iran, of which

Operation Tariq al-Qods Operation Tariq al-Qods ( fa, عملیات طریق القدس, meaning "Path to Qods") was a military operation launched by Iran during the Iran–Iraq War to free Bostan in the Khuzestan province. It was fought from 29 November to 7 December 1 ...

was one.

Battle

The Iranians attacked, with some 70,000 soldiers in the

Ahvaz Ahvaz ( fa, اهواز, Ahvâz ) is a city in the southwest of Iran and the capital of Khuzestan province. Ahvaz's population is about 1,300,000 and its built-up area with the nearby town of Sheybani is home to 1,136,989 inhabitants. It is home ...

– Susangerd area. The Iraqi forces in the area withdrew, and strengthened the defenses of

Khorramshahr Khorramshahr ( fa, خرمشهر , also romanized as ''Khurramshahr'', ar, المحمرة, romanized as ''Al-Muhammerah'') is a city and capital of Khorramshahr County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 170,976, ...

. The Iraqis launched a counter-offensive on 20 May. However, despite its scale, the Iranians were able to repulse the attack. On 24 May, the Iranians liberated Khorramshahr; the vitally strategically and symbolically important Iranian city whose capture by Iraq had been the low-point of Iranian fortunes in the early days of the war The Iraqis were ordered to retreat, although many had done so when Khorramshar had fallen, back into Iraq. The Iranians captured 15,000-19,000 Iraqi troops and a substantial amount of Iraqi military hardware in Khorramshahr. The commander of the Iraqi forces in the city, Colonel

Ahmad Zeidan Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the v ...

, attempted to flee, but was trapped in a minefield which previously had been set up on his orders, and killed when he stepped on a mine.

Units

Iran

Iranian units involved in the operation were as follows: Each IRGC battalion was consisted of 300

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 ...

volunteers at most, while each Army battalion was around 2.5 times bigger. However, the number of battalions in each IRGC brigade was bigger than those of the Army. Karbala Central Headquarters
Commanded by Mohsen Rezaei (IRGC commander) and Col.

Ali Sayyad Shirazi Ali Sayyad Shirazi ( fa, علی صیاد شیرازی, June 1944 – 10 April 1999) was an Iranian regular military (''Artesh'') officer. He served as commander of the Ground Force during Iran–Iraq War. He was assassinated by Mojahedin-e Kh ...

(Army commander) *Fath Headquarters
Commanded by

Gholam Ali Rashid Major general Gholam Ali Rashid ( fa, غلامعلی رشید) is the commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarter and former deputy chief of the General Staff of Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran who was among decision-making com ...

and Col.

Massoud Monfared Niyaki Major General Masoud Monfared Niyaki or Monfared Niaki (1929–1985) ( fa, مسعود منفرد نیاکی) was a commander in Islamic Republic of Iran Army. He studied in the Officers' School, specializing in armored warfare. Niyaki got the rank ...

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 ...

: ***3rd Fath Division **** 14th Imam Hossein Brigade (1st Fath)
Commanded by

Hossein Kharrazi Hossein Kharrazi ( fa, حسین خرازی) (1957 – 27 February 1987) was the commander of IRGC's 14th Imam Hussein Division during Iran–Iraq War. He supported Islamic revolution and after its victory, served and helped safeguarding it. He w ...

*****7 infantry battalions ****

8th Najaf Ashraf Brigade 8th Najaf Ashraf Armored Division ( fa, لشکر 8 نجف اشرف) is a Division (military), division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It was first officially organized as the 8th Najaf Ashraf Brigade ( fa, تیپ 8 نجف اشرف) dur ...

(3rd Fath)
Commanded by Ahmad Kazemi *****7 infantry battalions ****

25th Karbala Brigade 25th Karbala Division ( fa, لشکر 25 کربلا) was a Division (military), division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It covered the Mazandaran province, which also included Golestan province back then. It was first officially organize ...

(4th Fath)
Commanded by

Morteza Ghorbani Murtaza or Morteza or Mortaza, a Persianate form of the Arabic Murtada or Murtadha ( ar, مرتضى, translit=Murtaḍā, lit=One Pleasing to God, label=none), is a common Muslim name. Pronunciation varies with accent, from native Arabic speaker ...

*****7 infantry battalions ***Two battalions from 30th Armored Brigade **

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

: ***

92nd Armored Division of Khuzestan The 92nd Armored Division, also called 92nd Armored Division of Ahvaz or 92nd Armored Division of Khuzestan (), is an armored division of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, first formed during the reign of the Shah. In September 1980, among the ...

****1st Brigade (1st Fath) ****2nd Brigade (2nd Fath) (backup) ****3rd Brigade (3rd Fath) ***37th Armored Brigade of Shiraz (4th Fath) ***

55th Airborne Brigade of Shiraz 55th Airborne Brigade of Shiraz ( fa, تیپ ۵۵ هوابرد, Tīp-e 55-e Havābord) is an airborne separate brigade of Ground Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran Army based in Shiraz, Fars Province. It was engaged in the Iran-Iraq War. ...

(4th Fath) ***151st Battalion (4th Fath) ***8 artillery battalions **

Combat engineering A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tas ...

(Commanded by Col. Jalal Rajabi-Rad): 85 engineering vehicles overall (45 from

Jihad of Construction Jihad of Construction or Construction Jihad ( fa, جهاد سازندگی ''Jahād-e Sāzandegī''), or simply Jihad ( ''Jahād'') was one of Organizations of the Iranian Revolution. The organization began as a movement of volunteers to help with ...

, 22 from IRGC, 18 from Army) *Nasr Headquarters
Commanded by

Hassan Baqeri Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...

and Col.

Hossein Hassani Saadi 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", "h ...

**IRGC: ***5th Nasr Division ****

7th Vali-e-Asr Brigade 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

(1st Nasr)
Commanded by Abdol-Mohammad Raoofi-Nezhad **** 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Brigade (2nd Nasr)
Commanded by

Ahmad Motevasselian Ahmad Motevaselian ( fa, احمد متوسلیان), an Iranian military attaché, was one of four Iranians who disappeared in Lebanon in 1982. During the Iran–Iraq War, he was a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and established ...

**** 46th Fajr Brigade (3rd Nasr) **** 22nd Badr Brigade (5th Nasr) ***One battalion from 30th Armored Brigade **Army: *** 21st Hamzeh Infantry Division of Azarbaijan ****1st Brigade (1st Nasr) ****2nd Brigade (2nd Nasr) ****3rd Brigade (3rd Nasr) ****4th Brigade (4th Nasr) (backup) ***

23rd Airborne Special Forces Brigade 65th Airborne Special Forces Brigade ( fa, تیپ ۶۵ نیروهای ویژه هوابرد), or the ''NOHED'' Brigade (), is an airborne, special forces unit of the Iranian Army established in 1959. The unit's first operation was during the Dh ...

(''Nowhed'') (5th Nasr) ***6 artillery battalions **Combat engineering: 48 engineering vehicles overall (27 from Jihad of Construction, 18 from IRGC, 3 from Army) *Qods Headquarters
Commanded by

Ahmad Gholampoor Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet. Etymology The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ...

and Col. Siroos Lotfi **IRGC: ***1st Qods Division **** 31st Ashura Brigade (1st Qods)
Commanded by

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 protes ...

*****7 infantry battalions ****

21st Imam Reza Brigade First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: * World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

(2nd Qods) *****8 infantry battalions ****

37th Noor Brigade 37th may refer to: *37th (Howitzer) Brigade Royal Field Artillery, a brigade of the Royal Field Artillery which served in the First World War *37th (North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot, raised in Ireland in February 1702 *37th (Northern Ontario) Batt ...

(3rd Qods)
Commanded by Ali Hashemi *****8 infantry battalions **** 41st Tharallah Brigade (4th Qods)
Commanded by

Qassem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani ( fa, قاسم سلیمانی, ; 11 March 19573January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination in 2020, he was the commander of the Qu ...

*****7 infantry battalions **** 43rd Beit-ol-Moqaddas Brigade (5th Qods) *****8 infantry battalions ***One tank battalion from 30th Armored Brigade **Army: *** 16th Armored Division of Qazvin ****1st Brigade (1st Qods) *****2 tank battalions, 2 mechanized battalions ****2nd Brigade (2nd Qods) *****2 tank battalions, 2 mechanized battalions ****3rd Brigade (3rd Qods) *****2 tank battalions, 1 mechanized battalion *** 58th Zolfaqar Commando Brigade of Shahroud (4th Qods) ****4 infantry battalions, 1 tank battalion ***254th Tank Battalion (5th Qods) ****1 company ***6 artillery battalions **Combat engineering: 59 engineering vehicles overall (23 from Jihad of Construction, 22 from IRGC, 14 from Army) *Fajr Headquarters (backup) **IRGC: ***

17th Ali ibn Abi Taleb Brigade 17th Ali ibn Abi Taleb Division ( fa, لشکر 17 علی ابن ابی طالب) was a Division (military), division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Iran–Iraq War. It covered Qom Province, Qom, Zanjan Province, Zanjan, Semnan ...

***

33rd Al-Mahdi Brigade 33rd Al-Mahdi Division ( fa, لشکر 33 المهدی (عج), named after the twelfth Shia Imam, Al-Mahdi) was a brigade of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It was established on 24 February 1982 before Operation Fath ol-Mobin in the Iran–I ...

***

35th Imam Sajjad Brigade Military units *35th Fighter Wing, an air combat unit of the United States Air Force *35th Infantry Division (United States), a formation of the National Guard since World War I *35th Infantry Regiment (United States), a regiment created on 1 July 1 ...

**Army: ***

77th Infantry Division of Khorasan 77th ''"Pirooz-e Samen-ol-A'emeh"'' Infantry Division of Khorasan ( fa, لشکر پیاده ۷۷ پیروز ثامن‌الائمه خراسان) is an infantry division of the Ground Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran Army based in Mashhad, Raza ...

****3rd Brigade

Combat engineer A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, Tunnel warfare, tunnel and l ...

units involved were as follows: *Army: 63 engineering vehicles overall **Combat Engineer Battalion of 21st Division **Combat Engineer Battalion of 92nd Division **Combat Engineer Battalion of 16th Division ** 411th Combat Engineer Group of Borujerd ***422nd Pontoon Bridge Group of Daghagheleh, Ahvaz **411th Pontoon Bridge Battalion **414th Combat Engineer Battalion ***Zafar Company *IRGC: 60 engineering vehicles overall *

: 100 engineering vehicles overall Other forces included: *

Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force , patron = , motto = , "Skyhigh is my place" , colours = Ultramarine blue , colours_label = , march = , mascot ...

: The IRIAF conducted 2,161 sorties overall. Air support duties were performed using 2 surface-to-surface missile bases together with

F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bo ...

and

F-14 Tomcat The Grumman F-14 Tomcat is an American carrier-capable supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat, twin-tail, variable-sweep wing fighter aircraft. The Tomcat was developed for the United States Navy's Naval Fighter Experimental (VFX) program after t ...

fighter jets. 20 sorties were conducted in the first day and 6 sorties in other days as

close air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movemen ...

. 3 airbases were dedicated to

medical evacuation Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

duties, with 12-20 sorties per day. *

Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation (IRIAA) (in fa, هواپیمایی نیروی زمینی جمهوری اسلامی ایران), more commonly known as Havānīrūz (, ), is the army aviation of the Iranian Army ground forces. It is the la ...

(''Havanirooz''): 96 helicopters were involved, including (sources differ on numbers): 24-26

Bell AH-1J International The Bell AH-1 SuperCobra is a twin-engined attack helicopter that was developed on behalf of, and primarily operated by, the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The twin Cobra family, itself part of the larger Huey family, includes the AH-1J Se ...

, 22-32 Bell 214, 6-16 Boeing CH-47C Chinook, 16-32

Bell 206 The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter progr ...

helicopters *

Islamic Republic of Iran Navy , ''Daryādelān''"Seahearts" , patron = , motto = fa, راه ما، راه حسین است, ''Rāh-e ma, rāh-e hoseyn ast''"''Our Path, Is Hussain's Path''" , colors = ...

's Takavar units *

Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force "And You Did Not Throw When You Threw, But God Did Throw" , start_date = 1933–1954 (Part of Ground Force)1954–2008 (Part of Air Force)2008–Present (As Separate Force) , branch = , type = Air defence , command_structure=Artesh , country ...

Iraq

Iraqi units involved in the operation were as follows: * 3rd Armored Division
Commanded by Brig. Gen.

Jawad Asaad Shitnah Juwad Asaad Rasol Shitnah ( ar, جواد أسعد رسول شيتنه , born 4 October 1940 in Rawanduz – 24 May 1982 in Baghdad) was an Iraqi Iraqi Armed Forces, regular military officer. He served as commander of the 3rd Armored Division (Ira ...

**6th Armored Brigade **12th Armored Brigade
Commanded by Muhsin Abd al-Jalil **53rd Armored Brigade **8th Mechanized Brigade * 6th Armored Division **16th Armored Brigade **30th Armored Brigade **25th Mechanized Brigade * 7th Armored Division * 9th Armored Division **35th Armored Brigade **43rd Armored Brigade **14th Mechanized Brigade * 12th Armored Division **37th Armored Brigade **46th Mechanized Brigade * 10th Armored Division **17th Armored Brigade **24th Mechanized Brigade * 5th Mechanized Division **26th Armored Brigade **55th Armored Brigade **15th Mechanized Brigade **20th Mechanized Brigade * 11th Infantry Division **44th Infantry Brigade **48th Infantry Brigade **49th Infantry Brigade **22nd Infantry Brigade **45th Infantry Brigade **113th Infantry Brigade * 7th Infantry Division (I Corps) **19th Infantry Brigade **39th Infantry Brigade * 15th Infantry Division *10th Independent Armored Brigade *31st, 32nd, 33rd, 416th, 417th, 601st, 602nd, 603rd, 119th Special Forces Brigades * Republican Guards: **10th Armored Brigade *109th, 419th, 416th, 90th, 417th, 601st, 602nd, 605th, 606th, 409th, 238th, & 501st Independent Infantry Brigades *9th, 10th, 20th, 113th Border Guard Brigades *33rd Special Forces Brigade *Thirty commando companies *

Popular Army The Iraqi Popular Army also known as the People's Army or People's Militia (Arabic: الجيش الشعبي ''Al Jaysh ash Shaabi'') was a paramilitary organization composed of civilian volunteers to protect the Ba'ath regime against internal ...

: **10 battalions (''qati`''), 450 fighters each *Saif Saad Independent Tank Battalion *Hattin, Salah al-Din & Hanin reconnaissance battalions *Thirty artillery battalions *

Iraqi Air Force The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF or IrAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية العراقية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiyah al Iraqiyyah}) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well ...

* Iraqi Army Air Corps

References

*''The Iran–Iraq War 1980-1988''; Karsh, Efraim; Osprey Publishing; 2002 *http://www.aja.ir/portal/Home/ShowPage.aspx?Object=News&CategoryID=31181e33-a5ba-4aa4-96ac-d4af5d174bc2&WebPartID=44f1e8b7-bb76-4037-9172-315858616c2c&ID=0225efab-94ae-4f01-aed5-2e6a3c09c197 {{DEFAULTSORT:Operation Beit Ol-Moqaddas

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

History of Khuzestan Province