In response to the

loss Loss may refer to: *Economic loss *Grief, an emotional response to loss **Animal loss, grief over the loss of an animal Mathematics, science, and technology * Angular misalignment loss, power loss caused by the deviation from optimum angular al ...

of the strategic

al-Faw Peninsula The Al-Faw peninsula (; also transliterated as ''Fao'' or ''Fawr'') is a peninsula in the Persian Gulf, located in the extreme southeast of Iraq. The marshy peninsula is southeast of Iraq's third largest city, Basra, and is part of a delta for t ...

during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

, the Iraqis pushed into Iran to seize the strategic Iranian city of Mehran to trade for the strategically important territory. Saddam was able to seize the city in May 1986, for the third time. He then offered to trade it for al-Faw, but instead of negotiating, the Iranians recaptured the city in June 1986.

Background

On February 10, 1986, Iran launched a successful surprise amphibious assault, (what became known as the

first Battle of Al-Faw 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 Ira ...

), across the

Shatt al-Arab The Shatt al-Arab () is a river about in length that is formed at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the town of al-Qurnah in the Basra Governorate of southern Iraq. The southern end of the river constitutes the Iran– ...

(''Arvand rud'' in Persian) waterway and seized the strategic al-Faw Peninsula. The Iraqi units in charge of the defenses were mostly made up of poorly trained Iraqi Popular Army conscripts that collapsed when they were suddenly attacked by the Iranian

Pasdaran 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) {{disambig ...

(Revolutionary Guard) forces.

The battle

Immediately after the Iranian capture of Al-Faw, Saddam declared a new offensive against Iran, Al Defa Al Muthaharraka (Arabic for The Dynamic Defense), designed to drive deep into Iran. The Iranian border city of Mehran,

Ilam province Ilam Province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Ilam. The province is in the western part of the country in Region 4 and covers . It shares of the border with Iraq, and also bordering on the provinces of Ke ...

on the foot of the

Zagros Mountains The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...

was selected as the first target. This city was situated on an important road leading into Iran. On May 15–19 the Iraqi Army's II Corps supported by

helicopter gunships An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive (military), offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their ...

captured the city. Saddam then offered the Iranians to exchange Mehran for Al-Faw. The Iranians rejected the Iraqi offer. Iraq then continued the attack, attempting to push deeper into Iran. However, Iraq's attack was quickly smashed by Iranian

AH-1 Cobra The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopter. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the HueyCobra or Snake. The A ...

helicopters with TOW missiles destroying an unspecified amount of Iraqi tanks and vehicles. Iranian troops using

mountain warfare Mountain warfare or alpine warfare is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. The term encompasses military operations affected by the terrain, hazards, and factors of combat and movement through rough terrain, as well as the strategies ...

built up their forces on the heights surrounding the city. On June 30, they launched Operation Karbala 1, recapturing the area by July 3. Saddam ordered the

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 ...

to retake the city on July 4, but their attack was thoroughly defeated. The Iraqi losses were so heavy the Iranians managed to capture some territory inside of Iraq as well. Iraq's defeats at al-Faw and at Mehran were a severe blow to the prestige of the Iraqi regime. The western powers including the U.S. also became more determined to prevent an Iraqi loss.

Aftermath

After the defeat, Saddam and the

Baath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...

held an "Extraordinary Congress" and decided on a full mobilization of the Iraqi Popular Army. Enlisting men as old as 42, the regime initiated a total call-up of available manpower in 1986. At the time the government feared that calls for the mobilization would lead to draft riots, but the response was good: young men – even college students – reported without incident. The fact that the public answered the call indicated that Iraqis feared invasion during the war.

Order of battle

Iraq

Iraqi Army The Iraqi Ground Forces (Arabic: القوات البرية العراقية), also referred to as the Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي), is the ground force component of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It was formerly known as the Royal Iraq ...

*2nd Corps ** 17th Armored Division ***70th Armored Brigade ***59th Armored Brigade ***705th Infantry Brigade *433rd, 417th, 425th Infantry Brigades *1st Commando Brigade, Commando Battalion of the 40th Infantry Division ''Reinforcements sent:''

*1st Mechanized *4th and 5th Infantry Brigades *3rd Special Forces Brigade *2nd and 10th Armored Brigades Iraqi Army * 35th Infantry Division **71st, 72nd, 3rd Infantry Brigades *501st, 113th, 95th, 118th, and 108th Infantry Brigades *24th Mechanized Brigade *2nd, 3rd, and 5th Commando Brigades, Commando Battalion of the 20th Infantry Division, Commando Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Division *65th Special Forces Brigade *763rd, 110th, 15th, 766th, 217th, 238th, 53rd, 247th, and 489th Artillery Battalions

Iran

*Najaf Headquarters *:Commanded by

Mostafa Izadi Mostafa Izadi () is an Iranian senior military officer in the Revolutionary Guards with the rank of Major general. He is a former commander of the IRGC's Ground Force. As of 2015, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed For ...

27th Muhammad Rasulullah Division 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Division () was a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Ground Forces based in Tehran. It was established as the 27th Mohammad Rasulullah Brigade by Hossein Qajeyi, Ahmad Motevasselian and Mohammad Ebrahim ...

**:6 infantry battalions, 1 tank battalion **

17th Ali ibn Abi Talib Division 17th Ali ibn Abi Taleb Division () was a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Iran–Iraq War. It covered Qom, Zanjan, Semnan, and Markazi provinces. After Operation Tariq-ol-Qods, the 17th Brigade of Qom () was establ ...

**:Commanded by

Gholamreza Jaafari Gholam Reza or Gholamreza () is a male Muslim given name and may refer to: People *Gholamreza Khan Arkawazi (1770–1839), Kurdish poet *Gholamreza Rashid Yasemi (1895–1951), Iranian poet and translator * Gholamreza Rouhani (1897–1985), Irania ...

**:3 infantry battalions, 1 tank battalion ** 5th Nasr Division **:3 infantry battalions **

25th Karbala Division 25th Karbala Division () was a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It was first officially formed as the 2nd Karbala Brigade () during the Iran–Iraq War, and was later expanded into a division. According to Mohsen Rezaei, afte ...

**:Commanded by

Morteza Ghorbani Morteza Ghorbani (, born 1957 in Borkhar) is a Brigadier general of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, currently serving as an advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and a senior advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC. He ...

**:4 infantry battalions, 1 tank battalion ** 10th Sayyed-osh-Shohada Division **:3 infantry battalions **

41st Sarallah Division The 41st Tharallah Division (also spelled Sarallah) () was a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from 1980 until it was merged into the Sarallah Corps of Kerman Province in 2008. Formation In 1980, a battalion was established consi ...

**:Commanded by

Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani (; 11 March 1957 – 3 January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until Assassination of Qasem Soleimani, his assassination by the United States in 2020, h ...

**:4 infantry battalions, 1 tank battalion **21st Imam Reza Independent Brigade **:2 infantry battalions **15th Imam Hassan Independent Brigade **:5 infantry battalions **662nd Beit-ol-Moqaddas Independent Brigade **:2 infantry battalions **38th Zolfaghar Independent Armored Battalion **:1 tank company **2 artillery battalions from IRGC, 4 artillery battalions from

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation The Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation (IRIAA) (in ), more commonly known as the Havānīrūz (, ), is the army aviation of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Forces. It has about 300 helicopters both for Attack helicopter, attack and Mi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehran 1986 Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War in 1986 History of Ilam province Operations Karbala Battles of the Iran–Iraq War Battles in 1986 Mehran County May 1986 in Asia June 1986 in Asia

Background

The battle

Aftermath

Order of battle

Iraq

Iran

See also

References