| Second Battle of Khorramshahr | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theIran–Iraq War andOperation Beit ol-Moqaddas | |||||||||
 Iranian forces directing captured Iraqi Armyprisoners following the city's return to Iranian control, 1982 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 80,000 troops 100 tanks[2] | 100,000 troops 400 tanks[2] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
8,000 killed 250 tanks, 300 APCs, 100 artillery pieces destroyed or captured[2] (In all sectors) | 12,000–15,000 killed 400 tanks destroyed[2] (In all sectors) | ||||||||
  Khorramshahr | |||||||||
TheSecondBattle of Khorramshahr, also known in Iran as theLiberation of Khorramshahr (Persian:آزادسازی خرمشهر,romanized: Âzâdsâzī-ye Khorramshahr) was theIranian recapture of the city ofKhorramshahr on 24 May 1982, during theIran–Iraq War. The city had beencaptured by theIraqis earlier in the war, on 26 October 1980, shortly after theIraqi invasion of Iran.[3][4][5] The successful retaking of the city was part of Iran'sOperation Beit ol-Moqaddas. It is perceived as a turning point in the war; and the liberation of the city is annually celebrated in Iran on 24 May.[6]
Following its capture, the Iranian city ofKhorramshahr remained under Iraqi control until April 1982, when the Iranians launchedOperation Beit ol-Moqaddas to recapture the province ofKhuzestan. The initial phase of the operation took place from 24 April to 12 May 1982 and consisted of approximately 70,000Iranian Army troops andRevolutionary Guards, who succeeded in pushing the Iraqi forces out of theAhvaz–Susangerd area while sustaining heavy casualties. The Iraqis withdrew to Khorramshahr and, on 20 May, launched a vigorous but unsuccessful counterattack against the Iranians. Iran then launched an all-out assault on Khorramshahr and overran two Iraqi defensive lines in thePol-e Now andShalamcheh region. The Iranians concentrated near theShatt al-Arab (known as theArvand Rud in Iran) waterway, besieged Khorramshahr, and recaptured the city on 24 May 1982, after two days of intense and bloody fighting.[6][7]
The mobile bridge constructed by the Iraqi army, connecting the islands of Bowarin and Umm Rasas, to the southern shore of the Arvand River, was rendered inoperable by the fighters of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Consequently, the Iraqi forces were unable to utilize it. The Iraqi soldiers, faced with the obstruction on the Shalamcheh road, were mentally shaken, causing them to surrender.[8]
In retaking Khorramshahr, the Iranians captured approximately 19,000 soldiers from a now-demoralizedIraqi Army.Saddam Hussein was shocked and infuriated by the defeat and by the fact that the Iranians had pushed on despite sustaining heavy casualties. The Iranians had even committed theirreserves in order to keep on driving back the Iraqis. After the defeat, Saddam Hussein executed several of his top generals, such as the commander of the9th Armoured Division.[6]
Calls for aUnited Nations-mandated ceasefire in theIran–Iraq War were made three days[9] after the liberation ofKhorramshahr, and officials ofboth countries began discussing such a possibility.[10]
The anniversary of the liberation of Khorramshahr is annually observed in Iran on 24 May.[4][11]
Sevom Khordad, an Iranianair defence system, is named after the battle.[12]
The liberation of Khorramshahr is the subject of a number of wartime films, such as 1982'sAnother Growth by Homayun Purmand, thePasdaran Army (Revolutionary Guard) Television Unit's 1983 documentaryRecapturing Khorramshahr, and Kiumarth Monazzah'sForty Witnesses – The Second Narrative: Liberation of Khorramshahr (1983).[13][14]
A popular sad Persian song, "Mammad Naboodi" (ممد نبودی, meaning "Mammad [colloquial variant of Mohammad], you were not there [to see the city liberated]"), by Gholam Koveitipoor, is about Mohammad Jahanara, the Revolutionary Guard commander who was one of the last few Iranians to leave Khorramshahr when itfell to the Iraqis. He subsequently fought in theSiege of Abadan and lead Iranian forces to recapture Khorramshahr; but he died on 24 May, in a plane crash, before the liberation of the city.[15]
Pictures from the moments of the liberation of Khorramshahr
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