MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Iran
Index
Iran may have prevented a quick Iraqi victory by a rapid
mobilization of volunteers and deployment of loyal Pasdaran forces
to the front. Besides enlisting the Iranian pilots, the new
revolutionary regime also recalled veterans of the old imperial
army, although many experienced officers, most of whom had been
trained in the United States, had been purged. Furthermore, the
Pasdaran and Basij (what Khomeini called the "Army of Twenty
Million" or People's Militia) recruited at least 100,000
volunteers. Approximately 200,000 soldiers were sent to the front
by the end of November 1980. They were ideologically committed
troops (some members even carried their own shrouds to the front in
the expectation of martyrdom) that fought bravely despite
inadequate armor support. For example, on November 7 commando units
played a significant role, with the navy and air force, in an
assault on Iraqi oil export terminals at Mina al Bakr and Al Faw.
Iran hoped to diminish Iraq's financial resources by reducing its
oil revenues. Iran also attacked the northern pipeline in the early
days of the war and persuaded Syria to close the Iraqi pipeline
that crossed its territory.
Iran's resistance at the outset of the Iraqi invasion was
unexpectedly strong, but it was neither well organized nor equally
successful on all fronts. Iraq easily advanced in the northern and
central sections and crushed the Pasdaran's scattered resistance
there. Iraqi troops, however, faced untiring resistance in
Khuzestan. President Saddam Husayn of Iraq may have thought that
the approximately 3 million Arabs of Khuzestan would join the
Iraqis against Tehran. Instead, many allied with Iran's regular and
irregular armed forces and fought in the battles at Dezful,
Khorramshahr, and Abadan. Soon after capturing Khorramshahr, the
Iraqi troops lost their initiative and began to dig in along their
line of advance.
Data as of December 1987
|
|