 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Operation Mersad" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Operation Forough Javidan/Mersad | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theIran–Iraq War | |||||||||
 Burned-out vehicles in the aftermath of Operation Mersad | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Mojahedin-e-Khalq | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Massoud Rajavi | |||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 7,000 MEK troops[1] 300 tanks unknown number of artillery pieces and aircraft | 210,000 Iranians engaged 1,200,000 total 365 tanks unknown number of artillery pieces and aircraft | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
1,500 to 2,506 KIA (Iranian claim)[2] 400 APCs 90 pieces of 80mm mortar 150 pieces of 60mm mortar 30 pieces of 106mm recoilless rifles[citation needed] | 480KIA (Iranian claim)[7] | ||||||||
Operation Mersad (Persian:عملیات مرصاد, Operation Ambush) also calledOperation Foroughe Javidan (Persian:عملیات فروغ جاویدان, Operation Eternal Light, MeK's codename) were among the last major military operations of theIran–Iraq War.
In July 1988, 7,000 militants from thePeoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) launched a major military offensive with the goal of capturing key cities such asKermanshah, and ultimately topple the Iranian government.[1] Led byLieutenant-GeneralAli Sayad Shirazi, Operation Mersad began on 26 July 1988 and lasted only a few days, whereby theIranian Armed Forces defeated MEK forces.
On 20 July 1987 the Iran–Iraq War was coming to an end under theUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 598.[8][9] Iran had suffered major defeats in southern Iraq during theSecond Battle of Al Faw andOperation Tawakalna ala Allah as well as along the central portion of the border within Iran, and was contemplating on accepting[8] the ceasefire. The MEK operation code-named "Eternal Light" took place on 26 July 1988, six days after Ayatollah Khomeini had officially announced his acceptance of the UN brokered ceasefire resolution.[1]
Both Iran and Iraq had acceptedUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 598, which would end the war on 8 August 1988. However, the National Liberation Army (or NLA, the MEK's military wing) seized the opportunity to attack central part of theIran-Iraq border before the ceasefire came into effect.[1]
On 26 July the NLA seized Karand and Islamabad-e Gharb. The NLA's next target was Bakhtaran, but on July 29 they announced a voluntary withdrawal from Islmabad-e Gharb and Karand.[10] Following Operation Mersad, Iranian officials ordered themass execution of prisoners said to support the MEK.[11][12][13][14]Ali Montazeri said the ministry of intelligence used Operation Mersad as a pretext to carry out the mass killings, which "had been under consideration for several years".[15]
The operation started on 26 July 1988.[16] Iranian forces evacuatedQasr-e Shirin andSarpol-e Zahab as a result.[10][6]
These two towns were to be used by the MEK to push further into Iran.[10] On 26 July, the MEK advanced further into Iran and capturedKerend-e Gharb andIslamabad-e Gharb.[1][10] They also captured key strongholds along the Baghdad-Tehran highway.[1] The MEK met scant resistance from the limited numbers of Revolutionary Guards, which were promptly defeated, pushing 145 km (90 mi) deep into Iran towards the provincial capital city ofKermanshah.[10] Iran's Kurdish fighters did slow the advance, allowing time for the Iranians to prepare their counteroffensive.[1]
The MEK's next target was the provincial capital city ofKermanshah, with a population of 500,000. The Iranian regime allowed the MEK to advance to the city but had prepared anambush.[1] This counterattack, calledOperation Mersad was led byLieutenant GeneralAli Sayyad Shirazi.[17] Iran cut off MEK's supply lines.[10]
As the Iraqi airforce did not venture beyond Islamabad-e Gharb,[10] Iranian airforce attacked the MEK forces.Iranian Air ForceF-4 Phantoms[1] bombed MEK convoys on the Kermanshah highway, followed byArmy Aviation helicopters using anti-tank missiles.[1] Most enemy armour was destroyed, in a miniature version of theHighway of Death during thePersian Gulf War.[1]
On 31 July, Iran drove MEK forces out of Qasr-e-Shirin and Sarpol Zahab, though the MEK claimed to have "voluntarily withdrawn" from the towns. Iran estimated that 4,500 MEK soldiers were killed, while 400 Iranian soldiers died. Many senior MEK commanders were killed,[6] and many MEK militants werenot given quarter.[6] Iranian officials claimed they destroyed 200 tanks and 700 other vehicles.[6]
The Iranian successes during Operation Mersad were partially because of effective coordination between theArmy and theRevolutionary Guard.[17]
 | This section includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this section byintroducing more precise citations.(May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Operation Mersad was the last land battle of the Iran–Iraq War.
The last notable combat actions of the war took place on 3 August 1988, in the Persian Gulf when the Iranian navy fired on a freighter and Iraq launched chemical attacks on Iranian civilians, killing an unknown number of them and wounding 2,300.
Resolution 598 came into effect on 8 August 1988, ending all combat operations between the two countries. By 20 August 1988, peace was restored. UN peacekeepers belonging to theUNIIMOG mission took the field, remaining on the Iran–Iraq border until 1991. While the war was now over, Iraq spent the rest of August and early Septemberclearing the Kurdish resistance. Using 60,000 troops along withhelicopter gunships, chemical weapons (poison gas), and mass executions, Iraq hit 15 villages, killing rebels and civilians, and forced tens of thousands of Kurds to relocate to forced settlements. Many Kurdish civilians immigrated to Iran. By 3 September 1988, the anti-Kurd campaign ended, and all resistance had been crushed. 400 Iraqi soldiers and 50,000 Kurdish civilians and soldiers had been killed.
Following the operation, Iranexecuted several thousand political prisoners across the country, mainly members of the MEK, but also members of theTudeh Party (Communist Party) and other opposition groups.[18]: 209–228 The estimates for number of executions vary from 5,000 to 30,000 people.[19][20][21] The death toll may have been higher for those MEK executed by frontlinecourts-martial or dying in prison.
Ali Sayad Shirazi was the Iranian commander responsible for the coordination between the Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian army. In April 1999, an MEK operative posing as a roadsweeperkilled Shirazi outside his home.[17]
Media related toOperation Mersad at Wikimedia Commons
