Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas

Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas (Persian: عملیات بیت‌المقدس‎) or Operation Toward Beit-ol-Moqaddas (عملیات الی بیت‌المقدس)[4] was an Iranian operation conducted during the Iran–Iraq War. 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.

Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas
Part of Iran–Iraq War
Date24 April – 24 May 1982
(1 month)
Location
Khuzestan, South-West Iran
Result Decisive Iranian victory
Territorial
changes		 Iranians liberated Khorramshahr and the town of Hoveyzeh as well as villages, around 4,500 km2 overall, and pushed Iraqi forces to near the border
Belligerents
 Iraq  Iran
Commanders and leaders
Col. Ahmad Zeidan † (Commander of Iraqi forces in Khorramshahr)
Maj. Gen. Salah al-Qadhi  (commander of III Corps)		 Mohsen Rezai
Col. Ali Sayad Shirazi
Gholam Ali Rashid
Col. Massoud Monfared Niyaki
Hassan Baqeri
Col. Hossein Hassani Saadi
Ahmad Gholampoor
Col. Siroos Lotfi
Strength

70,000-80,000 fighters:
90 infantry battalions
43 armored battalions
23 mechanized battalions
22 commando battalions
12 border guard battalions
30 artillery battalions

1,435 tanks, 1,330 APCs, 530 artillery pieces[1][2]

65,000 fighters:
112 infantry battalions
23 armored battalions
9 mechanized battalions
29 artillery battalions
5 combat engineer battalions
1 pontoon bridge battalion
4 army aviation units (96 helicopters)

700 tanks[3]
Casualties and losses

16,000 killed and wounded
19,070 captured
418 tanks and APCs, 200 vehicles, 40 aircraft, 3 helicopters, and 30 artillery pieces destroyed

150 tanks and APCs, 300 vehicles, 1 hellicopter, 18 artillery pieces, 95,000 mines, and dozens of ammunition depots captured[2]

30,000 killed and wounded

4 helicopters destroyed

Prelude
See also: Battle of Khorramshahr

On 22 September 1980, because of his desire that Iraq should have complete dominance over the Shatt al-Arab (or the Arvand Rūd) waterway, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declared war against Iran and launched a land invasion of southern Iran, although operations did occur elsewhere on the Iran–Iraq border. 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 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 was one.

Battle

The Iranians attacked, with some 70,000 soldiers in the Ahvaz–Susangerd area. The Iraqi forces in the area withdrew, and strengthened the defenses of Khorramshahr.

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, 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.[5]

Units

Iran

Iranian units involved in the operation were as follows:[2][1][6] Each IRGC battalion was consisted of 300 Basij 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.[7]

Karbala Central Headquarters
Commanded by Mohsen Rezaei (IRGC commander) and Col. Ali Sayyad Shirazi (Army commander)

Combat engineer 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
  • Jihad of Construction: 100 engineering vehicles overall

Other forces included:

Iraq

Iraqi units involved in the operation were as follows:[8][2][1]

  • 3rd Armored Division
    Commanded by Brig. Gen. Jawad Asaad Shitnah [9]
    • 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:
    • 10 battalions (qati`), 450 fighters each
  • Saif Saad Independent Tank Battalion
  • Hattin, Salah al-Din & Hanin reconnaissance battalions
  • Thirty artillery battalions
  • Iraqi Air Force
  • Iraqi Army Air Corps

References
  1. اله, جعفری, فتح (1 February 2005). "تحلیلی بر عملیات بیت المقدس". فصلنامه تخصصی جنگ ایران و عراق. 3 (12). Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  2. "Untitled Page". www7.irna.ir. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  3. Buchan, James (15 October 2013). "Days of God: The Revolution in Iran and Its Consequences". Simon and Schuster. Retrieved 19 October 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. "آنچه باید درباره عملیات «بیت المقدس» بدانیم +عکس و نقشه". مشرق نیوز (in Persian). 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  5. "Khorramshahr Liberation Day: 24 May 1982". Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  6. "مروری بر عملیات بیت المقدس /3". khabaronline.ir. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  7. http://aja.ir
  8. "شرح کامل عملیات بیت المقدس". www.aviny.com. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  9. Woods, Kevin M. (19 October 2017). "Saddam's War: An Iraqi Military Perspective of the Iran-Iraq War". Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University. Retrieved 19 October 2017 – via Google Books.

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