- Operation Kheibar
-
Battle of the Marshes Part of Iran-Iraq War, Battle of the Marshes Date February 14, 1984-March 19, 1984 Location Lakes of the Hawizah Marshes in Iraq Result Decisive Iranian victory Territorial
changesIran captures the Majnoon islands Belligerents 
Iraq
IranCommanders and leaders Hossein KharraziStrength 10,000 250,000 Casualties and losses 9,000 40,000 Related U.S. operations in bold
Kaman 99 – Abadan – 1st Khorramshahr – Morvarid – Dezful – Undeniable Victory – 2nd Khorramshahr – Samen-ol-A'emeh – Jerusalem Way – Jerusalem – Ramadan – Before the Dawn – Dawn 1 – Dawn 2 – Dawn 3 – Dawn 4 – Dawn 5 – Dawn 6 – Marshes – Kheibar – Badr – Al-Anfal Campaign – 1st Al Faw – Dawn 8 – Karbala 4 – Karbala-5 – Karbala-6 – USS Stark Incident – Karbala Ten – Nasr 4 – Earnest Will – Prime Chance – Eager Glacier – Nimble Archer – Halabja – Zafar 7 – 2nd Al Faw – Praying Mantis – Air Flight 655 Incident – MersadOperation Kheibar was an Iranian offensive in the Iran-Iraq War. This operation was part of the Battle of the Marshes.
Contents
Prelude
After the unsuccessful Operation Dawn V in southern Iraq, Iran opened a new front at the lakes of the Hawizeh Marshes. 250,000 Iranian men swept through the Iraqi desert and were met by a mechanized force that slaughtered them. Iran needed air-support but lacked spare parts for the American-made planes. This became a serious problem for Iran and led to heavy casualties.
Iran enjoyed a zealous force of Pasdaran and Basij, but Iraq could not replace their deaths, forcing them to rely on artillery, air-support, and tanks.
The battle
On February 14, 1984, Iran fought through Iraqi defenses to the oil-rich Majnoon Island. Iran now was ready to launch the final attack of the battle of the Marshes and if this one would be lost Iraq could easily regain all territory lost in the battle of the Marshes. Iran started their first strategic offensive now, Operation Kheibar. The IRIAF tried their best to support the troops but because they lacked spare parts they could only provide 100 combat sorties per day on average, which was simply not enough. But on the other side the Iraqi air-force had their hands full on the southern front. Because of Iran's lack of aircraft, they used helicopters support for their troops. Eventually the Iranians swept across the marshes and forced the Iraqis out of the Majnoon islands which was a major disaster for Iraq.
Aftermath
In the end Iran had suffered 40,000 casualties in the battle of the Marshes and only managed to inflict 9,000 casualties on Iraq. But for Iraq even 9,000 was far too much. After the battle, Iran tried to take the Baghdad-Basra highway with Operation Badr, but this was unsuccessful. At the end of the War, Iraq expelled the Iranians from the Majnoon island by using large-scale poison-gas attacks.
References
- The Mother of all Build-Ups, Air Combat Information Group
- The First Gulf War (Iran and Iraq in the 1980s)
Categories:- 1984 in Iraq
- Battles involving Iran
- Battles involving Iraq
- Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
