Operation Mersad

Operation Mersad
Part of Iran-Iraq War
Mojahedin army was destroyed in 1988
Date 1988 Location Western borders of Iran Result End of the Iran-Iraq War Strategic Iranian victory Iranian victory in the northern sector Iraqi victory in the central sector Stalemate in the southern sector Iraqi invasion of Iran fails Defeat of the Khalq-e-Mujahedin and destruction of their army Execution of 30,000+ prisoners Territorial changes Most Iranian troops are withdrawn from Iraq except in the northern sector; Iran holds onto the Shatt al-Arab waterway
Belligerents
People's Mujahedin of Iran (NLA)  Iraq	Iran Peshmerga (only in the northern sector)
Commanders and leaders
Massoud Rajavi	Ali Sayad Shirazi
Strength
10,000	10,000
Casualties and losses
4,500 KIA (Iranian claim) 30,000+ executed	400 KIA (Iranian claim)

Mujahedin was killed in Operation Mersad by Pasdaran in Kermanshah at 1988

Operation Mersad was the name given by the Iranian government to its successful counterattack against a July 1988 military incursion from Iraq by a military force of about 7000 members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran, armed and equipped and given air support by Saddam's Iraq. The operation started on July 26 and lasted only a few days, and was the last military operation of any significance of the Iran-Iraq War.

Prelude

After 8 years of bloody warfare, the Iran Iraq War was coming to an end under the UN Security Council Resolution 598, which was passed 20 July 1987. It is thought Iraq supported the attack to pressure Iran into a more favorable settlement. The Mujahedin under their leader Massoud Rajavi harbored the unrealistic hope that the attack would lead to a general uprising against the Islamic government of Ayatollah Khomeini. Rajavi would lead the Mujahedin with Iraqi support in an attack on the western borders of Iran.^[1]

Events

Under the codename Foroughe Javidan (Eternal Shining), the Mujahedin started their ten day operation after the Iranian government accepted UN Resolution 598. While Iraqi forces attacked Khuzestan, the Mujahedin attacked western Iran and battled the Pasdaran for Kermanshah. Close air support from the Iraqis contributed heavily to the small gains the Mojahedin made into Iran, including the seizing and razing to the ground the small Iranian city of Islamabad-e Gharb.^{[citation needed]}

However, under heavy international pressure for ending the war, Saddam Hussein withdrew his fighter aircraft. Without any air cover, the Mojahedin could not stop Iranian airborne forces from being dropped behind Mojahedin lines. The operation ended in a Bay of Pigs invasion-like disaster for Mojahedin. Casualties ranged from 2,000 to 10,000. Tehran claims to have killed 4,500 NLA and Iraqi troops during the operation, while insisting that 400 Iranian soldiers were killed.^[1]

Aftermath

Main article: 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners

At least in part as a response to Operation Mersad, Iran systematically executed thousands of political prisoners across the country, mainly members of the Mujahedin e-Kalq but also members of the Tudeh Party (Communist Party) and other opposition groups.^[2]

The estimates for number of executions vary from around 1,400 ^[3] to 30,000.^[4][5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Hiro, Dilip, The Longest War, (1999), p.246-7
2. ^ Iranian party demands end to repression
3. ^ Massacre 1988 (Pdf)
4. ^ Memories of a slaughter in Iran
5. ^ Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran'

External links

• sajed.ir in English - The Official site of Holy Defence - Iraq-Iran War 1980-88