Operation Badr (1985)

Operation Badr
Part of Iran–Iraq War
Date 10–20 March 1985 Location Northeast of al-Qurnah Result Iraqi victory (with the use of chemical weapons) Territorial changes Iran captures a part of the Baghdad-Basra highway, but is forced to abandon control due to an Iraqi counter-response
Belligerents
Iraq	Iran
Strength
40,000-60,000	100,000
Casualties and losses
10,000-12,000	20,000

Operation Badr was an Iranian operation conducted during the Iran–Iraq War against the forces of Ba'athist Iraq. The Iranians launched their offensive on March 11 and succeeded in capturing a part of the Baghdad-Basra highway. The following Iraqi counterattack, however, forced the Iranians out in a continual war of endless stalemate.

Prelude

After its failure to capture Basra in 1982, Iran launched Operation Dawn in 1983 to capture the Baghdad-Basra highway. The operation failed, but Iran planned for Operation Badr in a further attempt to capture it. Without coincidence, the operation was named after the Prophet Mohammed's first military victory in Mecca centuries before.

The aim of the offensive was focused on capturing the Baghdad-Basra highway, which was a vital link between the two major cities, and for the movement of military supplies and vehicles to support and replenish the Iraqi defenders at the front-line. Another objective included the crossing of the Tigris River, which would cut off Basra from Iraq and give an equally psychological blow to the country.

Iran found itself reorganizing the Pasdaran and Basij units into more conventional forces as a response to several failures in the past. Although highly motivated and outnumbering the Iraqis, the Iranians were poorly trained and lacked heavy equipment, including armor, artillery, and air support to back up the operation. At the same time, Iran was also suffering the effects of the U.S.'s Operation Staunch embargo. Conversely, the Iraqis, under command of General Hisham al-Fakhri, had the luxury of better equipment, better training, and the illegal use of poison gas.

The battle

On March 11, Iran sent in a force of 100,000 men to attack the vicinity of Majnoon Island. The force landed at al-Qurnah, where the Euphrates River skirts the highway, and made a charge for the highway.^[1] They succeeded in capturing part of the highway, but Iraq opened a counterattack with artillery, air strikes, and armor divisions from the north. This battle was also the first time Republican Guard units as reserve forces.

The battle came to a climax when Saddam Hussein ordered the use of chemical attacks to evict the Iranians. This, along with the Iraqi counter-offensive, was able to force the Iranians back to their previous lines. The Iraqis suffered almost as heavy casualties as the Iranians, having fought a tumultuous ground war.

Aftermath

In response to Operation Badr, Saddam opened the second "War of the Cities" during March that year, hitting cities as far as Isfahan, Tabriz, Shiraz, and even Tehran. Iran responded in kind with attacks of her own against Iraqi civilians, mostly by launching medium range missiles into the port city of Basra.

Bibliography

1. In The Name Of God: The Khomeini Decade, by Robin Wright, Simon and Schuster, 1989
2. The Iran-Iraq War: Chaos in a Vacuum, by Stephen C. Pelletiere, Praeger Publications, New York, NY, 1992.

1. ^ Hume, Cameron R. (1994). The United Nations, Iran, and Iraq: How Peacemaking Changed. Indiana University Press. pp. 50. ISBN 0253328748. http://books.google.com/books?id=k22dIgqfS-4C&pg=PA50&dq=%22operation+badr%22&lr=&sig=FfxQhoNRrMLRI6IZwgmUpykGSsE.