Operation Kheibar

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Battle of the Marshes

Part of Iran-Iraq War, Battle of the Marshes

Date	February 14, 1984-March 19, 1984
Location	Lakes of the Hawizah Marshes in Iraq
Result	Decisive Iranian victory
Territorial changes	Iran captures the Majnoon islands

Belligerents

Iraq

Iran

Strength

10,000

250,000

Casualties and losses

9,000

40,000

v • d • e

Iran-Iraq War

Kaman 99 - Abadan - Morvarid - Dezful - Undeniable Victory - Khorramshahr - Samen-ol-A'emeh - Jerusalem Way - Jerusalem - Ramadan - Before the Dawn - Dawn 1 - Dawn 2 - Dawn 3 - Dawn 4 - Dawn V - Dawn 6 - Marshes - Kheibar - Badr - Cities - 1st Al Faw - Dawn 8 - Karbala 4 - Karbala-5 - Karbala-6 - Karbala Ten - Nasr 4 - Halabja - Zafar 7 - 2nd Al Faw - Mersad

Related U.S. operations

Earnest Will - Prime Chance - Eager Glacier - Nimble Archer - Praying Mantis

Operation Kheibar was an Iranian offensive in the Iran-Iraq War. This operation was part of the Battle of the Marshes.

1 Prelude
2 The Battle
3 Aftermath
4 References

[edit] Prelude

After the quite unsuccessful Operation Dawn V at the southern front Iran opened a new front at the lakes of the Hawizah Marshes, known as the central front. The battle fought here would be one of the largest of the war was known as the Battle of the Marshes. 250,000 Iranian men swept through the Iraqi desert and were met by a mechanized force that slaughtered them. Iran needed air-support but lacked spare parts for the American planes as the US wasn't providing them with anymore. This became a serious problem for Iran and that is why they suffered heavy casualties, the only thing that saved them was the fact that they had so many soldiers that were all eager to fight out of loyalty to their nation. For every soldier that died, Iran had another one to replace him, but Iraq on the other hand couldn't replace their deaths, and so relied on artillery, air-support and tanks.

[edit] The Battle

On February 14 1984 Iran had after fierce fighting and heavy losses reached the oil-rich Majnoon_Island. Iran now was ready to launch the final attack of the battle of the Marshes and if this one would be lost Iraq could easily regain all territory lost in the battle of the Marshes. Iran started their first strategic offensive now, Operation Kheibar. The IRIAF tried their best to support the troops but cause they lacked spare parts they could only provide 100 combat sorties per day on average, which was simply not enough. But on the other side the Iraqi air-force had their hands full on the southern front. Because of Iran's lack of aircraft, they used helicopters support for their troops. Eventually the Iranians swept across the marshes and forced the Iraqis out of the Majnoon islands which was a major disaster for Iraq.

[edit] Aftermath

In the end Iran had suffered 40,000 casualties in the battle of the Marshes and only managed to inflict 9,000 casualties on Iraq. But for Iraq even 9,000 was far too much. After the battle, Iran tried to take the Baghdad-Basra highway with Operation Badr, but this was unsuccessful. At the end of the War, Iraq expelled the Iranians from the Majnoon island by using large-scale poison-gas attacks.