Iranian counteroffensive
Faced with such losses, Khomeini appointed the cleric Hashemi Rafsanjani as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, though he had in actuality occupied that position for months.[138] Rafsanjani ordered a last desperate counter-attack into Iraq, which was launched 13 June 1988. The Iranians infiltrated through the Iraqi trenches and moved 10 km (6.2 mi) into Iraq and managed to strike Saddam's presidential palace in Baghdad using fighter aircraft.[49] After three days of fighting, the decimated Iranians were driven back to their original positions again as the Iraqis launched 650 helicopter and 300 aircraft sorties.[138]
Operation Forty Stars
On 18 June, Iraq launched Operation Forty Stars (چل چراغ chehel cheragh) in conjunction to the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) around Mehran. With 530 aircraft sorties and heavy use of nerve gas, they crushed the Iranian forces in the area, killing 3,500 and nearly destroying a Revolutionary Guard division.[138] Mehran was captured once again and occupied by the MEK.[138] Iraq also launched air raids on Iranian population centers and economic targets, setting 10 oil installations on fire.[138]
Tawakalna ala Allah operations
Main article: Tawakalna ala Allah Operations
On 25 May 1988, Iraq launched the first of five Tawakalna ala Allah (Trust in God) Operations,[88] consisting of one of the largest artillery barrages in history, coupled with chemical weapons. The marshes had been dried by drought, allowing the Iraqis to use tanks to bypass Iranian field fortifications, expelling the Iranians from the border town of Shalamcheh after less than 10 hours of combat.[51]:11[67]:265[138]
Iranian soldiers captured during Iraq's 1988 offensives
On 25 June, Iraq launched the second Tawakal ala Allah operation against the Iranians on Majnoon Island. Iraqi commandos used amphibious craft to block the Iranian rear,[49] then used hundreds of tanks with massed conventional and chemical artillery barrages to recapture the island after 8 hours of combat.[88][138] Saddam appeared live on Iraqi television to "lead" the charge against the Iranians.[138] The majority of the Iranian defenders were killed during the quick assault.[88] The final two Tawakal ala Allah operations took place near al-Amarah and Khaneqan.[88] By 12 July, the Iraqis had captured the city of Dehloran, 30 km (19 mi) inside Iran, along with 2,500 troops and much armour and material, which took four days to transport to Iraq. These losses included more than 570 of the 1,000 remaining Iranian tanks, over 430 armored vehicles, 45 self-propelled artillery, 300 towed artillery pieces, and 320 antiaircraft guns. These figures only included what Iraq could actually put to use; total amount of captured materiel was higher. Since March, the Iraqis claimed to captured 1,298 tanks, 155 infantry fighting vehicles, 512 heavy artillery pieces, 6,196 mortars, 5,550 recoilless rifles and light guns, 8,050 man-portable rocket launchers, 60,694 rifles, 322 pistols, 454 trucks, and 1,600 light vehicles.[138] The Iraqis withdrew from Dehloran soon after, claiming that they had "no desire to conquer Iranian territory."[49] History professor Kaveh Farrokh considered this to be Iran's greatest military disaster during the war. Stephen Pelletier, a Journalist, Middle East expert, and Author, noted that "Tawakal ala Allah … resulted in the absolute destruction of Iran's military machine."[49]
During the 1988 battles, the Iranians put up little resistance to the Iraqi offensives, having been worn out by nearly eight years of war.[67]:253 They lost large amounts of equipment but they managed to rescue most of their troops from being captured by the Iraqis, leaving Iraq with relatively few prisoners.[49] On 2 July, Iran belatedly set up a joint central command which unified the Revolutionary Guard, Army, and Kurdish rebels, and dispelled the rivalry between the Army and the Revolutionary Guard. However, this came too late, and due to the capture of 570 of their operable tanks and the destruction of hundreds more, Iran was believed to have fewer than 200 remaining operable tanks on the southern front, faced against thousands of Iraqi ones.[138] The only area where the Iranians were not suffering major defeats was in Kurdistan.[105]
Iran accepts the ceasefire
Saddam sent a warning to Khomeini in mid-1988, threatening to launch a new and powerful full-scale invasion and attack Iranian cities with weapons of mass destruction. Shortly afterwards, Iraqi aircraft bombed the Iranian town of Oshnavieh with poison gas, immediately killing and wounding over 2,000 civilians. The fear of an all out chemical attack against Iran's largely unprotected civilian population weighed heavily on the Iranian leadership, and they realized that the international community had no intention of restraining Iraq.[146] The lives of the civilian population of Iran were becoming very disrupted, with a third of the urban population evacuating major cities in fear of the seemingly imminent chemical war. Meanwhile, Iraqi conventional bombs and missiles continuously hit towns and cities, as well as destroyed vital civilian and military infrastructure, and the death toll increased. Iran did reply with missile and air attacks as well, but not enough to deter the Iraqis from attacking.[138]
Under the threat of a new and even more powerful invasion, Commander-in-Chief Rafsanjani ordered the Iranians to retreat from Haj Omran, Kurdistan on 14 July.[138][147] The Iranians did not publicly describe this as a retreat, instead calling it a "temporary withdrawal".[147] By July, Iran's army inside Iraq (except Kurdistan) had largely disintegrated.[49] Iraq put up a massive display of captured Iranian weapons in Baghdad, claiming they captured 1,298 tanks, 5,550 recoil-less rifles, and thousands of other weapons.[138] However, Iraq had taken heavy losses as well, and the battles were very costly.[88]
In July 1988, Iraqi aircraft dropped bombs on the Iranian Kurdish village of Zardan. Dozens of villages, such as Sardasht, and some larger towns, such as Marivan, Baneh and Saqqez,[148] were once again attacked with poison gas, resulting in even heavier civilian casualties.[149] About the same time, the USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655, killing 290 passengers and crew. The lack of international sympathy disturbed the Iranian leadership, and they came to the conclusion that the United States was on the verge of waging a full-scale war against them, and that Iraq was on the verge of unleashing its entire chemical arsenal upon their cities.[146]
At this point, elements of the Iranian leadership, led by Rafsanjani (who had initially pushed for the extension of the war), persuaded Khomeini to accept the ceasefire.[51] They stated that in order to win the war, Iran's military budget would have to be increased by 700% and the war would last until 1993.[138] On 20 July 1988, Iran accepted Resolution 598, showing its willingness to accept a ceasefire.[51]:11 A statement from Khomeini was read out in a radio address, and he expressed deep displeasure and reluctance about accepting the ceasefire,
Happy are those who have departed through martyrdom. Happy are those who have lost their lives in this convoy of light. Unhappy am I that I still survive and have drunk the poisoned chalice...[51][95]:1
The news of the end of the war was greeted with celebration in Baghdad, with people dancing in the streets; in Tehran, however, the end of the war was greeted with a somber mood.[95]:1
i amerikanci placu a iranci mole da poginu insala
