Editing Iran–Iraq War (section)

===1987–88: Renewed Iranian Offensives===

[[File:Mersad.jpg|thumb|Burned-out vehicles shown in the aftermath of [[Operation Mersad]]{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}]]

Meanwhile, Iran continued to attack as the Iraqis were planning their strike. In 1987 the Iranians renewed a series of major human wave offensives in both northern and southern Iraq. The Iraqis had elaborately fortified Basra with 5 defensive rings, exploiting natural waterways such as the Shatt-al-Arab and artificial ones, such as ''Fish Lake'' and the Jasim River, along with earth barriers. Fish Lake was a massive lake filled with mines, underwater barbed wire, [[electrode]]s and sensors. Behind each waterway and defensive line was radar-guided artillery, [[ground attack aircraft]] and helicopters, all capable of firing poison gas or conventional munitions.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

The Iranian strategy was to penetrate the Iraqi defences and encircle Basra, isolating the city and the Al-Faw peninsula.<ref name=csis8 /> Iran's plan was for three assaults: a diversionary attack near Basra, the main offensive and another diversionary attack using Iranian tanks in the north to divert Iraqi heavy armour from Basra.<ref name="Farrokh 03" /> For these battles, the Iranian military had grown by recruiting many new Basij and Pasdaran volunteers.<ref name=csis8 /> Total Iranian strength reached 150,000–200,000.<ref name=pollack04 />

==== Operation Karbala-4 ====
{{Main|Operation Karbala-4}}

On 25 December 1986, Iran launched [[Operation Karbala-4]] (''Karbala'' referring to [[Husayn ibn Ali]]'s [[Battle of Karbala]]).<ref name=silverstein10>{{cite book|isbn=978-0-19-160934-3|title=Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction|last=Silverstein|first=Adam J.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OKOAkshBSIQC}}</ref> According to Iraqi General Ra'ad al-Hamdani, this was a diversionary attack.<ref name="Woods 2010" /> The Iranians launched an amphibious assault against the Iraqi island of Umm al-Rassas in the Shatt-Al-Arab river, parallel to Khoramshahr. They then set up a pontoon bridge and continued the attack, eventually capturing the island in a costly success but failing to advance further. The Iranians had 60,000 casualties, while the Iraqis 9,500.<ref name="aboulenein12_dawn3" /> The Iraqi commanders exaggerated Iranian losses to Saddam, and it was assumed that the main Iranian attack on Basra had been fully defeated and that it would take the Iranians six months to recover. When the main Iranian attack, Operation Karbala 5, began, many Iraqis were on leave.<ref name="Woods 2010" />

====Karbala-5 (Sixth Battle of Basra)====
{{Main|Siege of Basra}}

The [[Siege of Basra]], code-named Operation Karbala-5 ({{langx|fa|عملیات کربلای ۵}}), was an offensive operation carried out by [[Iran]] in an effort to capture the [[Iraq]]i port city of [[Basra]] in early 1987. This battle, known for its extensive casualties and ferocious conditions, was the biggest battle of the war and proved to be the beginning of the end of the Iran–Iraq War.<ref>Pollack, Kenneth M. (2004). "Iraq". Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness, 1948–1991. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. {{ISBN|978-0803287839}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fatehan.ir/page.aspx?pid=224|title=fatehan.ir|access-date=26 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024223009/http://www.fatehan.ir/page.aspx?pid=224|archive-date=24 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> While Iranian forces crossed the border and captured the eastern section of Basra Governorate, the operation ended in a stalemate.

====Karbala-6====
{{Main|Operation Karbala-6}}

At the same time as Operation Karbala 5, Iran launched [[Operation Karbala-6]] against the Iraqis in Qasr-e Shirin in central Iran to prevent the Iraqis from rapidly transferring units down to defend against the Karbala-5 attack. The attack was carried out by Basij infantry and the Revolutionary Guard's 31st ''[[Day of Ashura|Ashura]]'' and the Army's 77th ''Khorasan'' armoured divisions. The Basij attacked the Iraqi lines, forcing the Iraqi infantry to retreat. An Iraqi armoured counter-attack surrounded the Basij in a pincer movement. The Iranian tank divisions attacked, breaking the encirclement. The Iranian attack was stopped by mass Iraqi chemical weapons attacks.<ref name=iraniraqwar.com>{{cite web|title=Iran–Iraq war|url=http://iraniraqwar.com/about.html|access-date=13 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923205409/http://iraniraqwar.com/about.html|archive-date=23 September 2012|url-status=usurped}}</ref>