IV.

Invasion and Counterattack

Iraqi troops invaded Iran along a front some 500 km (300 mi) long. Numerous and well-equipped Iraqi forces overwhelmed the small Iranian border units and advanced into southwestern Iran. With the far side of the Shatt al Arab thus secured, Iraq captured the southern border city of Khorramshahr in the oil-rich Khūzestān province and began besieging other towns along the frontier. However, the Iranian resistance was stiffer than Iraq expected. Using its superior naval power, Iran quickly mounted an effective sea blockade. Standing up to Iraq’s larger air force, the Iranian air force issued retaliatory raids that checked Iraq’s advance on the ground. In January 1981 Iran launched its first counteroffensive, but Iraq decimated the assault. The war entered a protracted stalemate.

The stalemate did little to encourage either country to engage in diplomatic dialogue. The Iraqi government accused Iran of being bent on regional domination, while the Iranian government called for revolution in Iraq. Briefly in 1981 Iraq stopped fighting and expressed some willingness to consider a cease-fire, but Iran rejected any attempt to stop the war while Iraq occupied Iranian territory. Thereafter, the Iranian leadership staked out a very firm diplomatic position, claiming that it would never accept negotiations with the Iraqi government.

As the stalemate continued, Iran was able to mobilize irregular forces (groups not normally part of the army but drafted and armed in response to a crisis), including the Revolutionary Guard, an ill-trained but dedicated core of fighters. By early 1982, the struggle for political power in postrevolutionary Iran was resolved, allowing the government to pursue a more coherent war policy. Iran seized the initiative with several offensives that pushed Iraq out of much of Iran and brought the fighting into Iraqi territory. Throughout the summer and fall of 1982, Iranian attacks along the border focused on splitting the south of Iraq, where the majority of the Shias lived, from the north and capturing the southern Iraqi city of Al Başrah.

The Iranian offensives of 1982 set a pattern that continued for the rest of the war. Exploiting their superiority in numbers, Iran sent its Revolutionary Guard on the attack, supported by regular military forces. Outnumbered Iraqi forces inflicted heavy losses on the Iranians but ultimately fell back. As soon as the initial Iranian thrust had exhausted itself, however, the Iraqi army exploited Iranian disorganization and lack of equipment to retake much of the lost territory.

As the war continued, Iraq’s defense grew increasingly desperate. Probably as early as 1983 the armed forces used poison gas against Iranian troops. Iraq also widened the war to civilian targets, launching missiles against Iranian cities, bombing Iranian oil installations, and attacking Iranian shipping in the Persian Gulf. Iran responded with attacks against civilian and economic targets in Iraq.