First Battle of al-Faw

First Battle of al-Faw
Part of Iran–Iraq War

Al-Faw peninsula, Iraq
Date10 February 1986 – 10 March 1986
Location
Result Iranian victory
Territorial
changes
Iran captures the tip of the al-Faw peninsula
Belligerents
 Iraq  Iran
Commanders and leaders
Ba'athist Iraq Maher Abd al-Rashid
Ba'athist Iraq Hisham al-Fakhri
Ba'athist Iraq Saadi Toma Abbas
Iran Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Iran Esmaeil Sohrabi
Iran Mohsen Rezaee
Iran Ali Sayad Shirazi
Iran Morteza Ghorbani
Iran Hossein Kharrazi
Iran 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.

  1. ^ a b Razoux, Pierre (2015). The Iran-Iraq War. Harvard University Press, 2015. p. 354,360. ISBN 978-0674915718.
  2. ^ "آشنایی با عملیات والفجر ۸" [Familiarity with Operation Dawn 8]. 24 February 2013.
  3. ^ Woods, Kevin M. (2011). Iraqi Perspectives Project: A View of Operation Iraqi Freedom from Saddam's Senior Leadership (PDF). Alexandria, VA: Institute for Defense Analyses. ISBN 978-0-9762550-1-7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  4. ^ Razoux, Pierre (2015). The Iran-Iraq War. Harvard University Press, 2015. p. 354, 360. ISBN 978-0674915718.
  5. ^ Weapons of Mass Destruction: Chemical and biological weapons. ABC-CLIO. 2005. p. 165. ISBN 9781851094905.
  6. ^ Stephen C. Pelletiere, The Iran-Iraq War: Chaos in a Vacuum, ABC-CLIO, 1992, p.142