Editing Iran–Iraq War (section)

===1982: Iraqi retreat, Iranian offensive===
[[File:Iranian Northrop F-5 during Iran-Iraq war.jpg|thumb|Iranian [[Northrop F-5]] aircraft during the war|right]]

The Iraqis, realising that the Iranians were planning to attack, decided to preempt them with Operation al-Fawz al-'Azim (Supreme Success)<ref name=firestone08>{{cite book|last=Firestone|first=Reuven|title=Who are the real chosen people?: The Meaning of Chosenness in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam|year=2008|publisher=SkyLight Paths Publishing|location=Woodstock, VT|isbn=978-1-59473-248-5|page=143|edition=2008 hardcover}}</ref> on 19 March. Using a large number of tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets, they attacked the Iranian buildup around the Roghabiyeh pass. Though Saddam and his generals assumed they had succeeded, in reality the Iranian forces remained fully intact.<ref name="Farrokh 03" /> The Iranians had concentrated much of their forces by bringing them directly from the cities and towns throughout Iran via trains, buses, and private cars. The concentration of forces did not resemble a traditional military buildup, and although the Iraqis detected a population buildup near the front, they failed to realise that this was an attacking force.<ref name="Woods 2010" /> As a result, Saddam's army was unprepared for the Iranian offensives to come.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

====Operation Fath ol-Mobin====
Iran's next major offensive, led by Colonel [[Ali Sayad Shirazi]], was [[Operation Fath ol-Mobin]]. On 22 March 1982, Iran launched an attack which took the Iraqi forces by surprise: using [[Chinook helicopter]]s, they landed behind Iraqi lines, silenced their artillery, and captured an Iraqi headquarters.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

The Revolutionary Guard and regular army followed up by surrounding the Iraqi [[9th Armoured Division (Iraq)|9th]] and [[10th Division (Iraq)|10th Armoured]] and [[1st Division (Iraq)|1st Mechanised Divisions]] that had camped close to the Iranian town of [[Shush, Iran|Shush]]. The Iraqi 12th Armoured Division counterattacked, breaking the encirclement and rescuing the surrounded divisions. Iraqi tanks came under attack by 95 Iranian F-4 Phantom and F-5 Tiger fighter jets, destroying much of the division.<ref name="Farrokh Wall Street Journal">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/31/idUS180865+31-May-2011+PRN20110531|agency=Reuters|title=Iran at war|date=31 May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808231300/https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/31/idUS180865%2B31-May-2011%2BPRN20110531|archive-date=8 August 2014}} cited in {{cite web|url=http://www.kavehfarrokh.com/books/iran-at-war-1500-1988/|title=Review: Wall Street Journal and Reuters|first=Kaveh|last=Farrokh|access-date=25 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816123246/http://kavehfarrokh.com/books/iran-at-war-1500-1988/|archive-date=16 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Operation Fath ol-Mobin was an Iranian victory; Iraqi forces were driven away from Shush, Dezful and Ahvaz. The Iranian armed forces destroyed 320–400 Iraqi tanks and armoured vehicles in a costly success. In just the first day of the battle, the Iranians lost 196 tanks.<ref name="Farrokh 03" /> By this time, most of the Khuzestan province had been recaptured.<ref name=efraimkarsh />

====Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas====
[[File:Me, Iraqi war tank.jpg|thumb|Iraqi [[T-62]] tank wreckage in Khuzestan province, Iran]]

In preparation for [[Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas]], the Iranians had launched numerous air raids against Iraqi air bases, destroying 47 jets (including Iraq's brand new [[Mirage F-1]] fighter jets from France) and gaining air superiority and the ability to monitor Iraqi troop movements.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

On 29 April, Iran launched the offensive. 70,000 Revolutionary Guard and Basij members struck on several axes—Bostan, Susangerd, the west bank of the Karun River, and Ahvaz. Basij human wave attacks were followed up by the regular army and Revolutionary Guard support along with tanks and helicopters.<ref name="Farrokh 03" /> Under heavy Iranian pressure, the Iraqi forces retreated. By 12 May, Iran had driven out all Iraqi forces from the Susangerd area.<ref name=efraimkarsh />{{rp|36}} The Iranians captured several thousand Iraqi troops and a large number of tanks.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

The Iraqis retreated to the Karun River, with only Khorramshahr and a few outlying areas remaining in their possession.<ref name=pollack04 /> Saddam ordered 70,000 troops to be placed around the city of Khorramshahr. The Iraqis created a hastily constructed defence line around the city and outlying areas.<ref name="Farrokh 03" /> To discourage airborne commando landings, the Iraqis also placed metal spikes and destroyed cars in areas likely to be used as troop landing zones. Saddam Hussein even visited Khorramshahr in a dramatic gesture, swearing that the city would never be relinquished.<ref name="Farrokh 03" /> However, Khorramshahr's only resupply point was across the Shatt al-Arab{{NoteTag|name=waterway}}, and the Iranian air force began bombing the supply bridges to the city, while their artillery zeroed in on the besieged garrison.

=====Second Battle of Khorramshahr=====
{{Main|Battle of Khorramshahr (1982)}}
[[File:Capture in Khorramshahr.jpg|thumb|right|Iraqi soldiers surrendering after the [[Battle of Khorramshahr (1982)|Liberation of Khorramshahr]]]]
In the early morning hours of 23 May 1982, the Iranians began the drive towards Khorramshahr across the [[Karun River]].<ref name=efraimkarsh /> This part of Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas was spearheaded by the 77th Khorasan division with tanks along with the Revolutionary Guard and Basij. The Iranians hit the Iraqis with destructive air strikes and massive artillery barrages, crossed the Karun River, captured [[bridgehead]]s, and launched human wave attacks towards the city. Saddam's defensive barricade collapsed;<ref name="Farrokh 03" /> in less than 48 hours of fighting, the city fell and 19,000 Iraqis surrendered to the Iranians. A total of 10,000 Iraqis were killed or wounded in Khorramshahr, while the Iranians suffered 30,000 casualties.<ref>{{cite book|last=Keegan|first=John|title=The Iraq war|year=2004|publisher=Knopf|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4000-4199-2|author-link=John Keegan|url=https://archive.org/details/iraqwar00keeg}}</ref> During the whole of Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas, 33,000 Iraqi soldiers were captured by the Iranians.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

====State of Iraqi armed forces====
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The fighting had battered the Iraqi military: its strength fell from 210,000 to 150,000 troops; over 20,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed and over 30,000 captured; two out of four active armoured divisions and at least three mechanised divisions fell to less than a brigade's strength; and the Iranians had captured over 450 tanks and armoured personnel carriers.<ref name=cooper03_214>{{cite web|url=http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_214.shtml|author=Thomas Cooper and Farzad Bishop|title=Fire in the Hills: Iranian and Iraqi Battles of Autumn 1982|date=9 September 2003|work=Arabian Peninsula & Persian Gulf Database|publisher=Air Combat Information Group|access-date=17 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822073723/http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_214.shtml|archive-date=22 August 2014|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

The Iraqi Air Force was also left in poor shape: after losing up to 55 aircraft since early December 1981, they had only 100 intact [[fighter-bomber]]s and [[interceptor aircraft|interceptors]]. A defector who flew his [[MiG-21]] to [[Syria]] in June 1982 revealed that the Iraqi Air Force had only three squadrons of fighter-bombers capable of mounting operations into Iran. The Iraqi Army Air Corps was in slightly better shape, and could still operate more than 70 helicopters.<ref name="cooper03_214" /> Despite this, the Iraqis still held 3,000 tanks, while Iran held 1,000.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

At this point, Saddam believed that his army was too demoralised and damaged to hold onto Khuzestan and major swathes of Iranian territory, and withdrew his remaining forces, redeploying them in defence along the border.<ref name=efraimkarsh /> However, his troops continued to occupy some key Iranian border areas of Iran, including the disputed territories that prompted his invasion, notably the Shatt al-Arab waterway.<ref name="Farrokh 03" /><ref name=Viewpoints>{{cite web|title=Viewpoints of the Iranian political and military elites|url=http://en.merc.ir/default.aspx?tabid=98&ArticleId=272|access-date=10 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213700/http://en.merc.ir/default.aspx?tabid=98&ArticleId=272|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In response to their failures against the Iranians in Khorramshahr, Saddam ordered the executions of Generals [[Juwad Shitnah]] and Salah al-Qadhi and Colonels Masa and al-Jalil.<ref name="Woods 2010" /> At least a dozen other high-ranking officers were also executed during this time.<ref name="csis 5" /> This became an increasingly common punishment for those who failed him in battle.<ref name="Woods 2010" />