Battle of Khorramshahr (1980) 1980
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate. Wikidata lists more than one location for this battle; the first is shown.
Key facts
| Date | 22 September 1980 – 10 November 1980 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1980 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Post-1945 (1946 onwards) | derived from year |
| Location | Iran | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Iran–Iraq War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 30.4333, 48.1667 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The First Battle of Khorramshahr was a major battle in the Iran–Iraq War, beginning shortly after the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September 1980. Amidst the gruelling urban warfare in and around the city, Khorramshahr came to be referred to by the Iranians as Khuninshahr (Persian: خونین شهر, lit. 'City of Blood'), as both sides had suffered heavy casualties in combat. It was the single largest urban battle of the Iran–Iraq war.
Though Iraq ultimately captured the city, it had come at a high cost; the offensive into Khorramshahr, which took 34 days, drew an immense investment of troops, far beyond what Iraqi war plans had envisaged. The incredible delay allowed Iran to stabilize the frontlines at Dezful, Ahvaz, and Susangerd, consequently enabling the relatively swift mobilization of Iranian reinforcements into oil-rich Khuzestan, which Iraq had sought to annex. At the time of the Iraqi offensive, Khorramshahr was mainly being defended by the heavily outnumbered Takavaran, some units of the 92nd Armoured Division, the Pasdaran, and local civilian militias.
After two years under Iraqi occupation, the city was recaptured by Iran in the Second Battle of Khorramshahr, as part of Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Khorramshahr (1980) (revision 1370267021), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Iran–Iraq War
- Operation Scorch Sword 1980
- Siege of Abadan 1980
- H-3 airstrike 1981
- Operation Nasr 1981
- Operation Tariq al-Quds 1981
- Battle of Khorramshahr (1982) 1982
- Battle of the Marshes 1984
- First Battle of al-Faw 1986
- Siege of Basra 1987
- USS Stark incident 1987
All 11 battles of the Iran–Iraq War →
Browse more: battles in Iran · Asia · Post-1945 battles