Editing Iran–Iraq War (section)

====Battle of Dezful====
{{Main|Battle of Dezful}}

[[File:Banisadr iran iraq war 2.jpg|thumb|Iranian president [[Abolhassan Banisadr|Abulhassan Banisadr]] during a visit to the frontlines]]

On 5 January 1981, Iran had reorganised its forces enough to launch a large-scale offensive, [[Operation Nasr]] (Victory).<ref name=wilson07 /><ref name=dennis09>{{cite book|last=Dennis|first=Simon Dunstan|title=The Six Day War, 1967: Jordan and Syria|year=2009|publisher=Osprey Publishing|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1-84603-364-3|edition=1st|page=22}}</ref><ref name="Jafari 2011">{{cite web|last=Jafari|first=Mojtaba|title=Nasr Offensive Operation|url=http://www.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=188315|date=26 July 2019|access-date=13 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715001111/http://www.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=188315|archive-date=15 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The Iranians launched their major armoured offensive from [[Dezful]] in the direction of [[Susangerd]], consisting of tank brigades from the 16th ''Qazvin'', 77th ''Khorasan'', and [[92nd Armored Division (Iran)|92nd Khuzestan Armoured Division]]s,<ref name="Jafari 2011" /> and broke through Iraqi lines.<ref name=efraimkarsh />{{rp|32}} However, the Iranian tanks had raced through Iraqi lines with unguarded flanks and without infantry support;<ref name="Farrokh 03" /> as a result, they were cut off by Iraqi tanks.<ref name=efraimkarsh />

In the ensuing Battle of Dezful, the Iranian armoured divisions were nearly wiped out in one of the biggest tank battles of the war.<ref name=efraimkarsh /> When the Iranian tanks tried to manoeuvre, they became stuck in the mud of the marshes, and many tanks were abandoned.<ref name=wilson07 /> The Iraqis lost 45 [[T-55]] and [[T-62]] tanks, while the Iranians lost 100–200 [[Chieftain tank|Chieftain]] and [[M60 Patton|M-60]] tanks. Reporters counted roughly 150 destroyed or deserted Iranian tanks, and also 40 Iraqi tanks.<ref name=efraimkarsh /> 141 Iranians were killed during the battle.<ref name="Jafari 2011" />

The battle had been ordered by Iranian president [[Abulhassan Banisadr]], who was hoping that a victory might shore up his deteriorating political position; instead, the failure hastened his fall.<ref name=efraimkarsh />{{rp|71}} Many of Iran's problems took place because of political infighting between Banisadr, who supported the regular army, and the hardliners, who supported the IRGC. Once he was [[impeached]] and the competition ended, the performance of the Iranian military improved.
 
The Islamic Republic government in Iran was further distracted by internal fighting between the regime and the [[Mujahedin e-Khalq]] (MEK) on the streets of Iran's major cities in June 1981 and again in September.<ref name=brogan89 />{{rp|250–251|date=November 2012}} In 1983, the MEK started an alliance with Iraq following a meeting between MEK leader [[Massoud Rajavi]] and Iraqi Deputy Prime minister [[Tariq Aziz]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Shaul|last=Shay|title=The Axis of Evil: Iran, Hizballah, and the Palestinian Terror|date=October 1994|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLo6DwAAQBAJ&q=1983+Tariq+Aziz+massoud+rajavi&pg=PT239|isbn=978-0765802552|quote="The organizations' ties with Iraq (mainly Rajavi's meeting with Tariq Aziz in January 1983) were exploited to demonstrate the organizations betrayal due to its willingness to join forces with Iran's enemies on the outside."}}</ref>{{sfn|Piazza|1994|p=16|ps=: "At the beginning of January of 1983, Rajavi held a highly publicised meeting with then Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq Tarqi Aziz, which culminated in the signing of a peace communique on January 9 of that year. Rajavi, acting as the chairman of the NCR, co-outlined a peace plan with Aziz based on an agreement of mutual recognition of borders as defined by the 1975 Algiers Treaty."}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/10/world/iraqi-visits-iranian-leftist-in-paris.html|title=Iraqi Visits Iranian Leftist in Paris|newspaper=The New York Times|date=10 January 1983|quote=The Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and the exiled leader of an Iranian leftist group met for four hours today and said afterward that the war between their countries should brought to an end. The conversations between Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz of Iraq and Massoud Rajavi, leader of the People's Mujahedeen, an organization that includes a guerrilla wing active in Iran, were described by Mr. Rajavi as the first of their kind. He said the exchange of views had been "an important political turning point on the regional level and for the world in relation to the Iran–Iraq War"|access-date=30 December 2021|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816021516/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/10/world/iraqi-visits-iranian-leftist-in-paris.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Shaul|last=Shay|title=The Axis of Evil: Iran, Hizballah, and the Palestinian Terror|date=1994|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uLo6DwAAQBAJ&q=1983+Tariq+Aziz+massoud+rajavi&pg=PT239|isbn=978-0765802552|quote="Despite the mortal blow inflicted on the organization, the Iranian regime continued to regard the Mujahidin as a real threat, and therefore continued to persecute its followers and damage their public image. The organizations' ties with Iraq (mainly Rajavi's meeting with Tariq Aziz in January 1983) were exploited to demonstrate the organizations betrayal due to its willingness to join forces with Iran's enemies on the outside."}}</ref>

In 1984, Banisadr left the coalition because of a dispute with [[Massoud Rajavi|Rajavi]], who moved from [[Paris]] to Iraq in 1986 and set up a base on the Iranian border.{{NoteTag|[[Massoud Rajavi]]}} The Battle of Dezful became a critical battle in Iranian military thinking. Less emphasis was placed on the Army with its conventional tactics, and more emphasis was placed on the Revolutionary Guard with its unconventional tactics.<ref name="wilson07" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0120/012038.html/(page)/2|title=Iran–Iraq War bogs down in rain, conflicting claims|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=5 October 2013|date=20 January 1981|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231002127/http://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0120/012038.html/(page)/2|archive-date=31 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>