Operation Fath-ol-Mobin ( fa, عملیات فتح‌المبین, a

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

ic phrase meaning "Undeniable Victory" or "Manifest Victory") was a major

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 Turkmeni ...

ian military operation conducted during the

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 ...

, in March 1982. The operation was led by Lt. General

Ali Sayad 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 ...

, and was conducted in four phases. Some believe that this operation was the turning point in the war and that it led to the eviction of

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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

i troops from Khuzestan. Others (including

Efraim Karsh Efraim Karsh ( he, אפרים קארש; born 1953) is an Israeli–British historian who is the founding director and emeritus professor of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King's College London. Since 2013, he has served as professor of p ...

) believe it was actually the operation working in tandem with others which led to the expulsion of Iraqi troops from southern Iran. He believes that in fact,

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 ...

, which lasted from April to May 1982, had the greatest effect, because the Iranians were able to liberate the strategically important city of

Khorramshahr Khorramshahr ( fa, خرمشهر , also Romanization, 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 wa ...

Prelude

On 22 September 1980,

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 revolutio ...

, attempting to copy the success of the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i pre-emptive air strike against the Arab air forces in the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

, launched numerous sorties against Iranian air fields, hoping to destroy the

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

on the ground. Although they failed, Saddam was still not going to be prevented from achieving his aim of establishing complete Iraqi dominance over the Shatt al-Arab, called Arvand Rood in Iran (Persian: اروند رود) waterway. He launched a land invasion of Iran, focusing on southern Iran. He was able to achieve success, capturing the major Iranian city of Khorramshahr. Although the Iraqis were not able to capture the city of Abadan, the way was open to

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

as the Iranian defenses had collapsed. The Iraqi advance was halted at the

Karun The Karun ( fa, کارون, ) is the Iranian river with the highest water flow, and its only navigable river. It is long. It rises in the Zard Kuh mountains of the Bakhtiari district in the Zagros Range, receiving many tributaries, such as t ...

and

Karkheh The Karkheh or Karkhen کرخه (perhaps the river known as the Gihon—one of the four rivers of Eden/Paradise to the Bible and as the Choaspes in ancient times; also called Eulæus; Hebrew: אולי Ulai) is a river in Khūzestān Province, ...

rivers respectively and now Iran was able to counter-attack; although their previous counter-attacks had ended in failure, this one would be successful.

The battle

On 22 March 1982, precisely 18 months to the day of the Iraqi invasion, the Iranians launched Operation Fath ol- Mobin. They intended to use a pincer movement to encircle Iraqi forces who had halted outside the Iranian town of Shush. Under the command of the young Iranian Chief-of-Staff, Lieutenant General

, the Iranians launched an armored thrust on the night of the 22nd followed by constant human-wave attacks by

Pasdaran , meaning "Guards") can refer to: * Pasdaran (district) in Tehran * Informal name for the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسدا� ...

and Basij brigades, each composed of about 1,000 fighters. The Iranians suffered much greater casualties than the Iraqis, because the Iranian attack at times involved massive unsupported frontal assaults made by the

and Basij. The Iranian forces still had to contend with an Iraqi army which was entrenched on the front-line and they enjoyed a good amount of tank, artillery, and aerial support. The Iranians kept up the momentum against the Iraqi forces and, after heavy Iraqi losses, Saddam ordered a retreat on the 28th. Three Iraqi divisions were encircled in the operation and destroyed within a week.

Aftermath

Along with Operation Tariq al-Qods and

, the Iranians were able to evict the Iraqi forces from southern Iran. The wider operation to re-capture Khuzestan is rightly to be considered a turning point. The Iranians had succeeded in achieving their standing aim of reversing the gains made by the Iraqi armed forces in the initial stages of the Iran-Iraq War. Afterward, the Iranian hardliners, headed by the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament

Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...

, argued for the expansion of Iranian war operations into Iraq. They eventually succeeded in getting their way, and the Iranians commenced several operations to conquer territory. But where the Iranians successfully used combined-arms operations to emerge victorious against the Iraqi troops in Iran, they relied upon unsupported human wave attacks by the poorly trained and lightly equipped troops of the Pasdaran and the Basij with an insufficient logistics capability. The Iraqis eventually stabilized their armed forces after their retreat from Iran. The result was that the Iranians would not be able to press their determined, but futile, assaults against a resurgent Iraqi army. Iraq was supported by both the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

who saw Saddam's regime as a much better option than Khomeini's regime.

Units

Iran

Karbala Central Command
Commanded by Lt. Gen. Ali Sayyad Shirazi * Qods Command **

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 ...

: *** 84th Infantry Brigade of Khorramabad **** 3 battalions *** 92nd Armored Division of Khuzestan **** 2nd Brigade ***** 3 battalions **

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 ...

: *** 41st Tharallah Brigade
Commanded by Qassem Soleimani **** 6 battalions *** 3rd Imam Hossein Brigade
Commanded by Hossein Kharrazi **** 9 battalions *** Ilam corps **** Several units * Nasr Command
Commanded by Sardar Hassan Baqeri and Amir Hossein Hassani Saadi **

: *** 21st Hamzeh Infantry Division of Azarbaijan
(10 battalions overall) **** 1st Brigade **** 2nd Brigade **** 3rd Brigade *** 58th Zolfaqar Takavar Brigade **** 4 battalions **

: *** 7th Vali-e-Asr Brigade **** 9 battalions *** 27th Mohammad Rasulollah Brigade
Commanded by

Ahmad Motevaselian 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 ...

**** Habib ibn Madhahir Battalion
Commanded by Mohsen Vezvaei **** 8 other battalions * Fajr Command ** Army: *** 77th Infantry Division of Khorasan **** 3 brigades ** IRGC: *** 33rd Al-Mahdi Brigade **** 6 battalions *** 46th Fajr Brigade **** 5 battalions *** 17th Ali ibn Abi Taleb Brigade **** 6 battalions *** 35th Imam Sajjad Brigade **** 11 battalions * Fath Command ** Army: *** 92nd Armored Division of Khuzestan **** 1st Brigade *** 37th Armored Brigade of Shiraz *** 55th Airborne Brigade of Shiraz ** IRGC: *** 8th Najaf Ashraf Brigade **** 8 battalions *** 25th Karbala Brigade * Unnamed artillery units * Unnamed

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 and mine warfare tas ...

and Construction Jihad engineer units * Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force * Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation ''Source:'' http://www.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=5921#4

Iraq

* 1st Mechanized Division ** 34th Armored Brigade ** 51st Armored Brigade ** 1st Mechanized Brigade ** 27th Mechanized Brigade ** 93rd Infantry Brigade ** 96th Infantry Brigade ** 109th Infantry Brigade ** 426th Infantry Brigade ** 4 artillery battalions * 3rd Armored Division ** 6th Armored Brigade ** 12th Armored Brigade ** 8th Mechanized Brigade ** 3 artillery battalions *

6th Armored Division The 6th Armored Division ("Super Sixth") was an armored division of the United States Army during World War II. It was formed with a cadre from the 2nd Armored Division. History The division was activated on 15 February 1942 at Fort Knox ...

** 25th Mechanized Brigade * 7th Infantry Division ** 19th Infantry Brigade ** 38th Infantry Brigade * 9th Armored Division ** 14th Mechanized Brigade ** 35th Armored Brigade ** 43rd Armored Brigade * 10th Armored Division ** 17th Armored Brigade ** 42nd Armored Brigade ** 51st Armored Brigade ** 60th Armored Brigade ** 24th Mechanized Brigade ** 55th Infantry Brigade ** 99th Infantry Brigade ** 423rd Infantry Brigade ** 505th Infantry Brigade ** 4 artillery battalions * 12th Armored Division * 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 19th, 603rd, 604th, 605th Brigades *

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...

** 10th Armored Brigade (backup) * 91st Infantry Brigade * 92nd Infantry Brigade * 5th Border Guard Brigade * 9 commando battalions * Popular Army * 217th Artillery Battalion *

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

Bibliography

* ''The Iran–Iraq War, 1980–1988''; Karsh, Efraim; Osprey Publishing; 2002 * ''Iran at War: 1500–1988''; Farrokh, Kaveh; General Military; 2011, p. 363 {{coord missing, Khuzestan Province Fath ol-Mobin History of Khuzestan Province