Editing Iran–Iraq War (section)

===Iran invades Iraq and Iraqi tactics in response===

[[File:An Iraqi notice for Propaganda against Iranian forces.jpg|thumbnail|An admonitory declaration issued from the Iraqi government in order to warn Iranian troops in the Iran–Iraq War. The statement says: "Hey Iranians! No one has been downtrodden in the country where [[Ali]] ibn Abi Ṭālib, [[Husayn ibn Ali]] and [[Abbas ibn Ali]] are buried. Iraq has undoubtedly been an honourable country. All refugees are precious. Anyone who wants to live in exile can choose Iraq freely. We, the Sons of Iraq, have been ambushing foreign aggressors. The enemies who plan to assault Iraq will be disfavoured by God in this world and the hereafter. Be careful of attacking Iraq and Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib! If you surrender, you might be in peace."]]

For the most part, Iraq remained on the defensive for the next five years, unable and unwilling to launch any major offensives, while Iran launched more than 70 offensives. Iraq's strategy changed from holding territory in Iran to denying Iran any major gains in Iraq, as well as holding onto disputed territories along the border.<ref name=iranchamber-iraniraqwar /> Saddam began a policy of [[total war]], gearing most of his country towards defending against Iran. By 1988, Iraq was spending 40–75% of its GDP on military equipment.<ref name=cordesman99-praeger>{{cite book|last=Cordesman|first=Anthony H.|title=Iraq and the War of Sanctions: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction|year=1999|publisher=Praeger|location=Westport, Connecticut|isbn=0-275-96528-7|edition=1st published|url=https://archive.org/details/iraqwarofsanctio00cord}}</ref> Saddam had also more than doubled the size of the Iraqi army, from 200,000 soldiers (12 divisions and three independent brigades) to 500,000 (23 divisions and nine brigades).<ref name=efraimkarsh /> Iraq also began launching air raids against Iranian border cities, greatly increasing the practice by 1984.<ref name=iranchamber-iraniraqwar />{{rp|2|date=November 2012}}

By the end of 1982, Iraq had been resupplied with new Soviet and Chinese [[materiel]], and the ground war entered a new phase. Iraq used newly acquired T-55, T-62 and T-72 tanks, as well as Chinese copies, [[BM 21|BM-21]] truck-mounted rocket launchers, and [[Mil Mi-24|Mi-24]] helicopter gunships to prepare a Soviet-type three-line defence, replete with obstacles such as barbed wire, minefields, fortified positions and bunkers. The Combat Engineer Corps built bridges across water obstacles, laid minefields, erected earthen revetments, dug trenches, built machine gun nests, and prepared new defence lines and fortifications.<ref name=iranchamber-iraniraqwar />{{rp|2|date=November 2012}}

Iraq began to focus on using [[defence in depth]] to defeat the Iranians through sheer size.<ref name=pollack04 /> Large Iranian human-wave attacks would overrun Iraq's forward entrenched infantry defences, forcing Iraqi retreats, but their [[static defence]]s would bleed the Iranians and channel them into certain directions, drawing them into traps or pockets. Iraqi air and artillery attacks would then pin the Iranians down and expose them to counterattacks by tanks and mechanised infantry.<ref name=williams02 />

Sometimes, the Iraqis would launch "probing attacks" into the Iranian lines to provoke rapid responses. While Iranian human wave attacks were successful against the dug-in Iraqi forces in Khuzestan, they had trouble breaking through Iraq's defence in depth lines.<ref name="Farrokh 03" /> Iraq had a logistical advantage in their defence: the front was located near the main Iraqi bases and arms depots, allowing their army to be efficiently supplied.<ref name=brogan89 />{{rp|260, 265|date=November 2012}} By contrast, the front in Iran was a considerable distance away from the main Iranian bases and arms depots, and as such, Iranian troops and supplies had to travel through mountain ranges before arriving at the front.<ref name=brogan89 />{{rp|260|date=November 2012}}

Iran's military power was weakened once again by large purges in 1982, resulting from another supposedly attempted coup.<ref name="Dunn 1998" />

====Operation Ramadan (First Battle of Basra)====

The Iranian generals wanted to launch an all-out attack on Baghdad and seize it while the Iranian army's supplies allowed for such an offensive. This was rejected as being impracticable<ref name=Viewpoints /> and the decision was made to capture one area of Iraq after the other, with the hope that this would force Iraq to withdraw from disputed border territories and begin negotiations to end the war.<ref name=Viewpoints />

On 13 July 1982, Iran began attacking southern Iraq, near Basra.<ref name=efraimkarsh /> Called [[Operation Ramadan]], the assault involved over 180,000 men from both sides, and was one of the largest land battles since [[World War II]].<ref name=iranchamber-iraniraqwar />{{rp|3|date=November 2012}} Iranian strategy dictated that they launch their primary attack on the weakest point of the Iraqi lines. However, the Iraqis were informed of Iran's battle plans and moved all of their forces to the area the Iranians planned to attack.<ref name="cooper03_214" /> The Iraqis were equipped with [[tear gas]] to use against the enemy, which was the first major use of chemical warfare during the conflict, throwing an entire attacking division into chaos.<ref name="Dunn 1998" />

[[File:Children In iraq-iran war4.jpg|thumb|95,000 Iranian child soldiers were casualties during the Iran–Iraq War, mostly between the ages of 16 and 17, with a few younger.<ref name=jupp88>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/19/opinion/l-child-soldier-treaty-has-wide-support-697888.html?src=pm|title=Child-Soldier Treaty Has Wide Support|newspaper=The New York Times|date=19 December 1988|last=Jupp|first=Michael|access-date=9 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915101716/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/19/opinion/l-child-soldier-treaty-has-wide-support-697888.html?src=pm|archive-date=15 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Special to The Christian Science Monitor|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0807/opas.html|title=Giving one's life to the cause of Islam and Iran. Guarding the revolution's Islamic standards|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=5 October 2013|date=7 August 1985|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007043821/http://www.csmonitor.com/1985/0807/opas.html|archive-date=7 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

Over 100,000 Revolutionary Guards and Basij volunteer forces charged towards the Iraqi lines. The Iraqi troops had entrenched themselves in formidable defences and had set up a network of bunkers and artillery positions. The Basij used human waves, and were even used to bodily clear the Iraqi minefields and allow the Revolutionary Guards to advance.<ref name=efraimkarsh /> Combatants came so close to one another that Iranians were able to board Iraqi tanks and throw grenades inside the hulls. By the eighth day, the Iranians had gained {{convert|16|km|mi|abbr=on}} inside Iraq and had taken several causeways. Iran's Revolutionary Guards also used the T-55 tanks they had captured in earlier battles.<ref name=pollack04 />

The attacks came to a halt and the Iranians turned to defensive measures. Seeing this, Iraq used their [[Mi-25]] helicopters, along with [[Gazelle helicopter]]s armed with [[Euromissile HOT]], against columns of Iranian mechanised infantry and tanks. These "hunter-killer" teams of helicopters, which had been formed with the help of [[East Germany|East German]] advisors, proved very costly for the Iranians. Aerial dogfights occurred between Iraqi MiGs and Iranian F-4 Phantoms.<ref name="Dunn 1998">{{cite web|last=Dunn|first=Brian|title=The First Gulf War|url=http://thedignifiedrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/first-gulf-war-iran-and-iraq-at-war-in.html|date=3 June 2009|access-date=23 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116024632/http://thedignifiedrant.blogspot.com/2009/06/first-gulf-war-iran-and-iraq-at-war-in.html|archive-date=16 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 16 July, Iran tried again further north and managed to push the Iraqis back. Only {{convert|13|km|mi|abbr=on}} from Basra, the poorly equipped Iranian forces were surrounded on three sides by Iraqis with heavy weaponry. Some were captured, while many were killed. Only a last-minute attack by Iranian AH-1 Cobra helicopters stopped the Iraqis from [[rout]]ing the Iranians.<ref name="cooper03_214" /> Three more similar attacks occurred around the Khorramshahr-Baghdad road area towards the end of the month, but none were significantly successful.<ref name=pollack04 />

Iraq had concentrated three armoured divisions, the 3rd, 9th, and 10th, as a counter-attack force to attack any penetrations. They were successful in defeating the Iranian breakthroughs, but suffered heavy losses. The 9th Armoured Division in particular had to be disbanded, and was never reformed. The total casualty toll had grown to include 80,000 soldiers and civilians. 400 Iranian tanks and armoured vehicles were destroyed or abandoned, while Iraq lost at least 370 tanks.<ref>O'Ballance, E. (1988). ''The Gulf War''. Brassey's. p. 95 {{ISBN?}}</ref><ref>Zabih, S. (1988). ''The Iranian Military in Revolution and War''. New York: Routledge. p. 181 {{ISBN?}}</ref>

====Final operations of 1982====

After Iran's failure in Operation Ramadan, they carried out only a few smaller attacks. Iran launched two limited offensives aimed at reclaiming the Sumar Hills and isolating the Iraqi pocket at [[Naft shahr]] at the international border, both of which were part of the disputed territories still under Iraqi occupation. They then aimed to capture the Iraqi border town of [[Mandali, Iraq|Mandali]].<ref name=cooper03_214 /> They planned to take the Iraqis by surprise using Basij militiamen, army helicopters, and some armoured forces, then stretch their defences and possibly break through them to open a road to Baghdad for future exploitation.<ref name=cooper03_214 />

During [[Operation Muslim ibn Aqil]] (1–7 October),{{NoteTag|''[[Muslim ibn Aqil]]'' referring to the Muslim figure.}} Iran recovered {{convert|150|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} of disputed territory straddling the international border and reached the outskirts of Mandali before being stopped by Iraqi helicopter and armoured attacks.<ref name=Abdoleinen-Ghazaleh /><ref name=cooper03_214 /> During [[Operation Muharram]] (1–21 November),{{NoteTag|''[[Muharram]]'' referring to the first month of the [[Islamic calendar]], during which the operation took place.<ref name="naficy12">{{cite book|title=A Social History of Iranian Cinema The Globalizing Era, 1984–2010|year=2012|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-4878-8|page=11|first=Hamid|last=Naficy}}</ref>}} the Iranians captured part of the [[Bayat, Razavi Khorasan|Bayat oilfield]] with the help of their fighter jets and helicopters, destroying 105 Iraqi tanks, 70 [[Armoured personnel carrier|APCs]], and 7 planes with few losses. They nearly breached the Iraqi lines but failed to capture Mandali after the Iraqis sent reinforcements, including brand new [[T-72]] tanks, which possessed armour that could not be pierced from the front by Iranian [[TOW missile]]s.<ref name=cooper03_214 /> The Iranian advance was also impeded by heavy rains. 3,500 Iraqis and an unknown number of Iranians died, with only minor gains for Iran.<ref name=cooper03_214 />