View source for Operation Mersad

{{short description|Iranian military operation in the Iran–Iraq War}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=August 2021}}
}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Operation Forough Javidan/Mersad
| partof            = the [[Iran–Iraq War]]
| image             = Mersad.jpg
| image_size        = 250px
| caption           = Burned-out vehicles in the aftermath of Operation Mersad
| date              = 26–30 July 1988<br/>({{Age in months, weeks and days|month1=07|day1=26|year1=1988|month2=07|day2=30|year2=1988|}})
| place             = [[Kermanshah Province]]
| casus             = UN pressurising both Iran and Iraq to end the war. Saddam Hussein's opportunity for a last minute land grab before UN ceasefire.
| territory         = ''[[Status quo ante bellum]]''
* The [[Shatt al-Arab]] and other disputed territories along the border (3000sq.km) remain under unilateral Iraqi control [[Gulf War|until 16 August 1990]] when both parties signed a formal peace agreement, after which [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] and [[Iran]] re-ratified the [[1975 Algiers Agreement]].
| result            = Iranian victory<ref name="Farrokh 03">{{cite book|last=Farrokh|first=Kaveh|title=Iran at War: 1500–1988|date=20 December 2011|publisher=Osprey Publishing|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1-78096-221-4|pages=413–414}}</ref><br />
* Defeat of the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran|Mojahadeen-e-Khalq]] (MEK) 
* [[1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners]]
| combatant1        = {{flagicon image|Flag of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (Yellow).svg}} [[Mojahedin-e-Khalq]]
| combatant2        = {{plainlist|
{{flag|Iran|1980}}
}}
| commander1        = {{flagicon image|Flag of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (Yellow).svg}} [[Massoud Rajavi]]
| commander2        = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon|Iran|1980}} [[Ruhollah Khomeini]]
* {{flagicon|Iran|1980}} [[Ali Sayad Shirazi]]
* {{flagicon|Iran|1980}} [[Mohsen Rezaei]]
}}
| strength1         = 7,000 MEK troops<ref name="Farrokh 03"/><br /><br />300 tanks<br />unknown number of artillery pieces and aircraft
| strength2         = 210,000 Iranians engaged<br />1,200,000 total<br />365 tanks<br />unknown number of artillery pieces and aircraft
| casualties1       = 1,500 to 2,506 KIA (Iranian claim)<ref name="ni"/><br/>1,263 KIA, WIA, MIA, POW (MEK claim)<ref name="MEKclaims">[https://www.mojahedin.org/pages/printNews.aspx?newsid=127346 بخشهایی از گزارش نهایی ستاد فرماندهی ارتش آزادیبخش ملی ایران درباره عملیات بزرگ فروغ جاویدان ـ ۸ شهریور ۱۳۶۷]</ref><br />2,000 [[Killed in action|KIA]] (independent estimate)<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/13/magazine/the-cult-of-rajavi.html?pagewanted=7&src=pm "The Cult of Rajavi"] by Elizabeth Rubin. ''[[New York Times]]'', 13 July 2003</ref><br />several thousand hanged for treason<ref>{{cite web|last=Lamb|first= Christina 
 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/02/04/wiran04.xml
 |title=Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran'
 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=19 June 2001
 |access-date=10 October 2014
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080329051448/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2001%2F02%2F04%2Fwiran04.xml
 |archive-date=29 March 2008
}}</ref>
200 Tanks destroyed (Iranian claim<ref name=reference3/>) <br /> 400 APCs <br /> 90 pieces of 80mm mortar <br /> 150 pieces of 60mm mortar <br /> 30 pieces of 106mm recoilless rifles{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}
| casualties2       = 480 [[Killed in action|KIA]] (Iranian claim)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmXKTRkZV2Y|title = روایت حاج سعید از عملیات مرصاد|website = [[YouTube]]}}</ref>
| units1            = {{plainlist|
{{flagicon image|Flag of the People's Mujahedin of Iran.svg}} [[National Liberation Army of Iran]]<ref name="ni"/>
}}
| units2            = {{plainlist|
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Muhammad Rasul Allah Corps of IRGC.svg}} [[27th Muhammad Rasulullah Division]]<ref name="ni">{{citation|title=Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MEK) Organization in the Imposed War|language=fa|journal=Negin-e-Iran|volume=41|issue=11|date=Summer 2012|url=http://www.negineiran.ir/article_3209.html|author=Yaghoub Nemati Voroujeni|pages=75–96|access-date=2016-12-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118223919/http://www.negineiran.ir/article_3209.html|archive-date=2016-11-18|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army.svg}} 81st Armoured Division of Kermanshah
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Forces.svg}} 35th Takavar Separate Brigade of Kermanshah
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army Ground Forces.svg}} [[Havanirooz 1st Combat Base]]<ref name="ni"/>
}}
| notes             = 
}}
{{Campaignbox Iran-Iraq War}}

'''Operation Mersad''' ({{langx|fa|عملیات مرصاد}}, Operation Ambush) also called '''Operation Foroughe Javidan''' ({{langx|fa|عملیات فروغ جاویدان}}, Operation Eternal Light, MeK's codename) were among the last major military operations of the [[Iran–Iraq War]].

In July 1988,   7,000 militants from the [[People's Mujahedin of Iran|Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran]] (MEK) launched a major military offensive with the goal of capturing key cities such as [[Kermanshah]], and ultimately topple the Iranian government.<ref name="Farrokh 03"/>  Led by [[Lieutenant general|Lieutenant-General]] [[Ali Sayad Shirazi]], Operation Mersad began on 26 July 1988 and lasted only a few days, whereby the [[Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran|Iranian Armed Forces]] defeated MEK forces.

== Prelude and objectives==
On 20 July 1987 the Iran–Iraq War was coming to an end under the [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 598]].<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |title=Basis for an End to Persian Gulf Fighting: Security Council Resolution 598 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/19/world/basis-for-an-end-to-persian-gulf-fighting-security-council-resolution-598.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=19 July 1988 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Iraq-Islamic Republic of Iran |url=http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/598 |website=unscr}}</ref> Iran had suffered major defeats in southern Iraq during the [[Second Battle of Al Faw]] and [[Tawakalna ala Allah Operations|Operation Tawakalna ala Allah]] as well as along the central portion of the border within Iran, and was contemplating on accepting<ref name="nytimes"/> 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.<ref name="Farrokh 03"/>

Both Iran and Iraq had accepted [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 598]], which would end the war on 8 August 1988. However, the National Liberation Army (or NLA, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq's military wing) seized the opportunity to attack central part of the [[Iran-Iraq border]] before the ceasefire came into effect.<ref name="Farrokh 03" />

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.<ref name=autogenerated1>Hiro, Dilip, ''The Longest War'', (1999), pp. 246–47</ref> Following Operation Mersad, Iranian officials ordered the [[1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners|mass execution of prisoners]] said to support the MEK.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/02/04/wiran04.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210125211/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2001%2F02%2F04%2Fwiran04.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 February 2006 |title=Khomeini fatwa 'led to killing of 30,000 in Iran' |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |access-date=12 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="The Bloody Red Summer">{{cite news|title=The Bloody Red Summer of 1988|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2009/08/the-bloody-red-summer-of-1988.html|work=pbs|publisher=theguardian.com|access-date=9 September 2024|archive-date=10 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010123705/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2009/08/the-bloody-red-summer-of-1988.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Montazeri01">{{cite book |first= Sussan|last= Siavoshi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3tUoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA131 |title=Montazeri: The Life and Thought of Iran's Revolutionary Ayatollah|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2017|isbn= 978-1-316-50946-3|page=131}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1394212018ENGLISH.PDF |title=Blood-soaked secrets with Iran's 1998 Prison Massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity |date=4 December 2018 |access-date=14 December 2018 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215065955/https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1394212018ENGLISH.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref> [[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".<ref>{{cite web  |url= https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1394212018ENGLISH.PDF  |title= Blood-soaked secrets: Why Iran's 1998 Prison Massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181215065955/https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1394212018ENGLISH.PDF  |archive-date= 15 December 2018 |url-status= live |publisher=Amnesty International |date=4 December 2018 }}</ref>

==Operations Eternal Light and Mersad ==
{{anchor|Operation Forough Javidan}}<!-- [[Operation Forough Javidan]] redirects here -->

The operation started on 26 July 1988.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1394212018ENGLISH.PDF |title=Blood-soaked secrets with Iran's 1998 Prison Massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity |date=4 December 2018 |access-date=14 December 2018 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215065955/https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1394212018ENGLISH.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref> Iranian forces evacuated [[Qasr-e Shirin]] and [[Sarpol-e Zahab]] as a result.<ref name=autogenerated1/><ref name=reference3>{{cite book|author=Michael Axworthy|title=Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=283}}</ref> 

These two towns were to be used by the MEK to push further into Iran.<ref name=autogenerated1/> On 26 July, the MEK advanced further into Iran and captured [[Kerend-e Gharb]] and [[Islamabad-e Gharb]].<ref name="Farrokh 03"/><ref name=autogenerated1/> They also captured key strongholds along the Baghdad-Tehran highway.<ref name="Farrokh 03"/> The MEK met scant resistance from the limited numbers of Revolutionary Guards, which were promptly defeated, pushing 145&nbsp;km (90&nbsp;mi) deep into Iran towards the provincial capital city of [[Kermanshah]].<ref name=autogenerated1>Hiro, Dilip, ''The Longest War'', (1999), pp. 246–47</ref>     Iran's Kurdish fighters did slow the advance, allowing time for the Iranians to prepare their counteroffensive.<ref name="Farrokh 03"/>

The MEK's next target was the provincial capital city of [[Kermanshah]], with a population of 500,000. Iran allowed the MEK to advance to the city but had prepared an [[ambush]].<ref name="Farrokh 03"/> This counterattack, called '''Operation Mersad''' was led by [[Lieutenant General]] [[Ali Sayyad Shirazi]].<ref name=ref2>{{cite book|title=Iran Resurgent The Rise and Rise of the Shia State|author=Mahan Abedin|publisher=Hurst|pages=110–111}}</ref> Iran cut off MEK's supply lines.<ref name=autogenerated1/> 

As the Iraqi airforce did not venture beyond Islamabad-e Gharb,<ref name=autogenerated1/> Iranian airforce attacked the MEK forces. [[Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force|Iranian Air Force]] [[F-4 Phantoms]]<ref name="Farrokh 03"/> bombed Mujahedeen convoys on the Kermanshah highway, followed by [[Islamic Republic of Iran Army Aviation|Army Aviation]] helicopters using anti-tank missiles.<ref name="Farrokh 03"/> Most enemy armour was destroyed, in a miniature version of the [[Highway of Death]] during the [[Persian Gulf War]].<ref name="Farrokh 03"/>

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 Mujahedeen soldiers were killed, while 400 Iranian soldiers died. Many senior MEK commanders were killed,<ref name=reference3/> and many MEK militants were [[No quarter|not given quarter]].<ref name=reference3/> Iran claimed it destroyed 200 tanks and 700 other vehicles.<ref name=reference3/>

The Iranian successes during Operation Mersad were partially because of effective coordination between the [[Islamic Republic of Iran Army|Army]] and the [[IRGC|Revolutionary Guard]].<ref name=ref2>{{cite book|title=Iran Resurgent The Rise and Rise of the Shia State|author=Mahan Abedin|publisher=Hurst|pages=110–111}}</ref>

== Aftermath ==
{{See also|1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners}}
{{More footnotes needed|section|date=May 2019}}
[[File:Mujahedin was killed in Operation Mersad by Pasdaran in Kermanshah.jpg|thumb|left|MEK members killed in Operation Mersad by [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|IRGC]] in [[Kermanshah]] in 1988]] 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.[102] By 20 August 1988, peace with Iran was restored. UN peacekeepers belonging to the [[UNIIMOG]] 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 September [[Al-Anfal Campaign|clearing the Kurdish resistance]]. Using 60,000 troops along with [[helicopter 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.[99] Many Kurdish civilians immigrated to Iran. By 3 September 1988, the anti-Kurd campaign ended, and all resistance had been crushed.[99] 400 Iraqi soldiers and 50,000 Kurdish civilians and soldiers had been killed.

Following the operation, Iran [[1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners|executed several thousand political prisoners]] across the country, mainly members of the MEK, but also members of the [[Tudeh Party of Iran|Tudeh Party (Communist Party)]] and other opposition groups.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abrahamian |first=Ervand |author-link=Ervand Abrahamian |title=Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran |year=1999 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |url=http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft3s2005jq;chunk.id=0;doc.view=print |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043644/http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft3s2005jq;chunk.id=0;doc.view=print}}</ref>{{rp|209–228}} The estimates for number of executions vary from 5,000 to 30,000 people.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-03-07 |title=Iran cleric linked to 1988 mass executions to lead judiciary |url=https://apnews.com/article/ee0e777abf19424281c363ef1978ac7f |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref><ref name="smith-atlas-1999">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Dan|title=The State of the Middle East, Revised and Updated: An Atlas of Conflict and Resolution |year=1999|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9781134039227 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MehRAwAAQBAJ&dq=iran+1988+executions+%2230%2C000%22&pg=PA82}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Da Silva |first=Chantal |date=2024-05-20 |title=Grief, but also relief for some, after Iran President Raisi dies in helicopter crash |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/death-iran-president-raisi-prompts-grief-relief-celebration-rcna153003 |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> The death toll may have been higher for those MEK executed by frontline [[courts-martial]] or dying in prison.

[[Ali Sayad Shirazi]] was the Iranian commander responsible for the coordination between the Revolutionary Guard and the Iranian army, that was responsible for the success of Operation Mersad. In April 1999, an MEK operative posing as a roadsweeper [[Assassination of Ali Sayyad Shirazi|killed Shirazi outside his home]].<ref name=ref2/>

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book|last=Farrokh|first=Kaveh |title=Iran at War: 1500–1988|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dUHhTPdJ6yIC&pg=PT609|date=20 December 2011|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-78096-221-4|page=609}}
* {{cite web |url=http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/9005lessonsiraniraqii-chap10.pdf |title=The Lessons of Modern War - Volume II - The Iran–Iraq War (Chapter 10: The Combination Of Iraqi Offensives And Western Intervention Force Iran To Accept A Cease-Fire: September 1987 To March 1989) - May, 1990 - 9005lessonsiraniraqii-chap10.pdf |access-date=2014-10-10 |archive-date=7 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607155707/http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/9005lessonsiraniraqii-chap10.pdf |url-status=dead }}

==See also==
*[[People's Mujahedin of Iran]]
*[[Massoud Rajavi]]
*[[Operation Forty Stars]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline}}
{{coord missing|Iran}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mersad 1988}}
[[Category:Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War in 1988]]
[[Category:History of Kermanshah province]]
[[Category:July 1988 in Asia]]
[[Category:Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War involving the Peshmerga]]
[[Category:Military operations of the Iran–Iraq War involving the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran]]