Jihad of Construction or Construction Jihad ( fa, جهاد سازندگی ''Jahād-e Sāzandegī''), or simply Jihad ( ''Jahād'') was one of

Organizations of the Iranian Revolution Many organizations, parties and guerrilla groups were involved in the Iranian Revolution. Some were part of Ayatollah Khomeini's network and supported the theocratic Islamic Republic movement, while others did not and were suppressed when Khomeini ...

. The organization began as a movement of volunteers to help with the 1979 harvest, but soon was institutionalized and took on a broader, more developmental role in the countryside. It was involved with

road building A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

, piped water, electrification, clinics, schools, and irrigation canals. It also provides "extension services, seeds, loans," etc. to small farmers. During the Iran–Iraq War, the organization held a combat engineering responsibility. They were active in various operation of the war, most notably in

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 ...

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 ...

, Operation Kheibar, and

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 ...

. Iranian leader

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

has called them the "trench-less trench-makers" ( ''sangar-sāzān-e bi-sangar''). The organization engaged in development activities overseas in Tanzania (from 1987), Ghana and Lebanon (1989),

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

and Sierra Leone (1991), and Albania (1993). It was also active in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The title for a Jihad member is ''Jahādgar'' (). The title for the commanders is ''

Sardār Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...

-e Jahādgar'' (). In 2001 it was merged with the Agriculture Ministry to form the

Ministry of Agriculture Jihad The Ministry of Agriculture Jihad ( fa, وزارت جهاد کشاورزی ''Vezārat-e Jahād-e Keshāvarzī'') is an Iranian government body established in 2001 responsible for the oversight of Agriculture in Iran. The ministry has been calle ...

References

Further reading