Editing Iran–Iraq War (section)

==== 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" />