Editing Iran–Iraq War (section)

====Operation Forty Stars====

On 18 June 1988, the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran]] (MEK) conducted a military operation known as [[Operation Forty Stars]] ({{Langx|fa|عملیات چلچراغ}}).<ref name="Piazza">{{harvnb|Piazza|1994}}: "On June 19, 1988, the NLA launched its offensive entitled Chetel Setareh or "40 Stars" in which twenty-two organised brigades of Mojahedin recaptured the city of Mehran, which the regime had wrested from Iraqi control after the Mojahedin had set up its "provisional government" there. The Mojahedin claimed that absolutely no Iraqi soldiers participated in this operation, and Iraqi Culture and Information Minister, Latif Nusayyif Jasim, later denied that Iraq had deployed air units to help the NLA or had used chemical weapons to drive the Islamic Republic's troops from Mehran."</ref> In four days, the People's Mujahedin of Iran wiped out a [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|Pasdaran]] division, seizing [[Mehran, Ilam|Mehran]] and building a bridgehead twelve miles into Iran.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Razoux|first1=Pierre|title=The Iran–Iraq War|date=2015|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674915718|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FGsuCwAAQBAJ&q=nlai+iran+iraq&pg=PT464|access-date=5 January 2024|archive-date=25 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231125174652/https://books.google.com/books?id=FGsuCwAAQBAJ&q=nlai%20iran%20iraq&pg=PT464|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="csis10" /> According to the MEK, Iraqi soldiers did not participate in the operation. Baghdad also said it was not involved in the battle.<ref name="Piazza" />