First Battle of al-Faw

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First Battle of al-Faw
Part of Iran–Iraq War
Al-Faw peninsula, Iraq
Date 10 February 1986 – 10 March 1986 Location Al-Faw peninsula, Iraq Result Iranian victory Territorial changes Iran captures the tip of the al-Faw peninsula
Belligerents
Iraq	Iran
Commanders and leaders
Maher Abd al-Rashid Hisham al-Fakhri Saadi Toma Abbas	Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Esmaeil Sohrabi Mohsen Rezaee Ali Sayad Shirazi Morteza Ghorbani Hossein Kharrazi Amin Shariati
Units involved
126 infantry battalions 33 armoured battalions 23 mechanized battalions 29 commando battalions 20 Republican Guard battalions	140 infantry battalions 16 artillery battalions
Strength
Beginning: 1,000–5,000 troops Height of battle: 82,000 troops (Three mechanised divisions) 400+ aircraft 200+ helicopters	Beginning: 22,000–25,000 troops Height of battle: 133,000 troops Several tank companies 70 aircraft 70+ helicopters
Casualties and losses
3,000 killed 9,000 wounded[1] 2,105 captured Destroyed: 74 aircraft 11 helicopters 400 tanks 200 APCs 500 military vehicles 20 field artillery pieces 55 anti-aircraft artillery pieces 7 fast attack craft 5 engineering vehicles destroyed Captured by Iran: 80 tanks 40 APCs 250 vehicles 35 field artillery pieces 150 anti-aircraft artillery pieces 3 radars 34 engineering equipment[1][2] Other claims: 10,000 killed (February–March) 40–55 aircraft 100+ tanks[3]	10,000 killed 25,000 wounded[4] (10,000 casualties of chemical attacks)[5]

The First Battle of al-Faw was a battle of the Iran–Iraq War, fought on the al-Faw peninsula between 10 February and 10 March 1986. The Iranian operation is considered to be one of Iran's greatest achievements in the Iran–Iraq War. The Iranians were able to capture the al-Faw peninsula, cutting off Iraqi access to the Persian Gulf in the process; this in turn hardened Iraqi attitudes to prosecute the war. The Faw peninsula was later recaptured by Iraqi forces near the end of the war.

On 9 February 1986, Iran launched Operation Dawn 8, a sophisticated and carefully planned amphibious assault across the Shatt al-Arab (Arvand Rud) river against the Iraqi troops defending the strategic al-Faw peninsula, which connects Iraq to the Persian Gulf.^[6] The Iranians defeated the Iraqi defenders, mostly Iraqi Popular Army, capturing the tip of the peninsula, including Iraq's main air control and warning center covering Persian Gulf, as well as limiting Iraq's access to the ocean. Iran managed to maintain their foothold in Al-Faw against several Iraqi counter-offensives, including Republican Guard assaults and chemical attacks, for another month despite heavy casualties until a stalemate was reached.

The First Battle of al-Faw was a major success for Iran who now held an important strategic position, but worried other states in the region, primarily in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, who increased their support for Iraq. The battle damaged the prestige of Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government, who began extensively improving defenses for the threatened major city of Basra. Although the battle officially ended in March 1986, intermittent clashes continued for two years until April 1988, when Iraq recaptured the al-Faw peninsula at the Second Battle of al-Faw.