Operation Morvarid
Mohammad Ali Abbasi Aghdam
Narges Karami
90 بازدید
Operation Morvarid is the title of one of the successful operations conducted by the Navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This operation occurred on November 28, 1980, with the participation and support of the Iranian Air Force. This operation aimed to bomb the Umm al-Qasr port and two other important Iraqi oil platforms, i.e., al-Bakr and al-Umiyah, which were located on the coast of Arvandroud. This operation was carried out post Operations Ashkan and Shaheed Safari, both of which were conducted by the Navy in November of the same year and with the same objectives. Due to the success of this operation, the seventh day of the Iranian month Azar is named Navy Day.
Following the commencement of Iraq's imposed war against Iran at the conclusion of September 1980, Iraq aimed to create obstacles to Iran’s attainment of its strategic objectives.[1] Destroying Iran's economic centers and ability to export oil was one of them. At the beginning of the war, Iraqi attacks on Iranian ports caused severe damage to Iran's oil economy.[2] The Iraqi Navy launched an attack on Iranian commercial ships in the northern region of the Persian Gulf with Uza missile frigates and Super Freelon helicopters, which were equipped with air-to-air missiles.[3] To counter this strategy, the Joint Staff of the Iranian Army announced a mission named the Zulfikar Plan to the Navy. According to it, the Navy had to ensure that the commercial lines of the Persian Gulf were kept open and that the Iraqis were prevented from infiltrating it.[4]
The first action that the Navy took in order to accomplish this mission was the formation of the 421st Combat Group at the Navy's operational base in Bushehr. This group, which was renamed the ‘Combat Force’ shortly after, was established on September 20, 1980, by First Captain, Mustafa Madaninejad, for the operational control of naval units.[5]
Subsequently, to deal with Iraqi missile frigates, and the disturbances they were causing to Iranian commercial vessels, the destruction of Iraq's al-Bakr and al-Umiyah docks was placed on the agenda of the navy. Therefore, on the 4th and 8th of November 1980, during the Ashkan and Shaheed Safari Operations, helicopters and sea artillery of the Iranian Navy, with the support of the Iranian Air Force, attacked both of these docks. In these two operations, vast damage was caused to Iraq’s docks and facilities, and its oil exports almost ceded. This was because the al-Bakr and al-Umiyah docks were the main locations for Iraq's oil exports.[6]
At the conclusion of November 1980, the activity of the Iraqi Navy intensified again, and the Iraqi frigates quickly took refuge within the al-Bakr and al-Umiyah docks after attacking Iranian commercial vessels.[7]
The 421st Combat Force decided to use the al-Bakr and al-Umiyah terminals as observation posts and overpasses to monitor the movement of the enemy’s surface, air, and commercial units from Umm al-Qasr port and possibly Faw Port. So, in order to end the activities of the Iraqi Navy in the north of the Persian Gulf and maintain Iran's maritime sovereignty, it was decided to draw out the Iraqi Navy to the north of the Persian Gulf and destroy it with a surprise attack. With this aim, Operation Darfash was prepared in collaboration with the Air Force. This operation was later renamed ‘Operation Morvarid’.[8]
Operation Morvarid was conducted in an area approximately four hundred kilometers in length, i.e., from Bushehr to the northernmost point of the Persian Gulf, and fifty kilometers in width, i.e., 20,000 km2 and it was commanded by the 421st Combat Force.
The destruction and surveillance teams were prepared with the necessary equipment and the operation was scheduled to begin on November 25, 1980, but it was postponed due to unfavorable weather and sea conditions. Until the official start of the operation, helicopters and patrol officers were sent to the area to collect additional information, monitor the platforms and report on the movement of the Iraqis.[9]
The forces participating in this operation were: a Special Operations Team, consisting of seven people (team commander, intelligence officer, communications officer, and four special operations marines (SBS)), two helicopters of the Navy to transport the special operations team and their light equipment to al-Bakr, a tugboat to transport ammunition, equipment, provisions and other necessities to al-Bakr, missile launcher frigates of the 7th Brigade from the second Bushehr naval area to support and secure the forces arriving on the pier, as well as relay messages from the special operations team to the 421st Combat Force and vice versa and planes from the 6th Shikhari Air Force Base in Bushehr to provide air coverage of the battle area.[10]
On the 5th of Azar (November 25, 1980), following the report of the air patrol, the missile launcher was assigned to shoot at the pier to locate the position of the Iraqi forces at al-Bakr. This move was made the next day, but there was no reaction from the Iraqis according to the three sorties of patrol helicopters. Consequently, the 421st Combat Force decided to start the operation in the afternoon of November, 27.[11]
In the afternoon of November 27, 1980, a special team of marine rangers, together with two helicopters and a plane, flew from the second Bushehr naval base in radio silence. These helicopters were monitored by two F-14 interceptors and the Bushehr radar station. At the same time, the Pikan frigate and a logistics ship were placed on war alert. As soon as the rangers arrived at the al-Bakr platform, they arrested the Iraqi commander and his two companions and sent them to Bushehr with one of the helicopters. They then completely cleared the quay and conquered the al-Bakr platform.[12]
On the same day, at 20:30, the naval operation began. The Pikan frigate docked on the southern side of the pier with the coordination of the ranger commander. The Iraqi prisoners were transferred to the frigate, while the ammunition was transported from the frigate to the dock. Subsequently, the fighting between the Pikan frigate and the Iraqi vessels began.[13] The clashes continued until November 28, 1980. The special joint operation team of the navy and the army were able to raise the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran on top of one of the tallest masts of the pier after the complete capture of the pier.[14]
In this operation, Iraq sank the Pikan frigate, resulting in the martyrdom of a number of its crew, including its commander, Second Captain Mohammad Ibrahim Hemmati, while many were also injured.[15] However, the navy's helicopters were able to rescue some of the frigate's crew, as well as 19 Iraqis in a reconnaissance operation. These prisoners were taken to Bushehr.[16]
In Operation Morvarid, 12 Iraqi boats were destroyed and 3 heavily damaged. Additionally, 11 Iraqi planes were shot down and more than 600 Iraqi soldiers were killed and wounded, with 26 being captured. The result of this operation was the destruction of a large part of the Iraqi Navy.
The success of Operation Morvarid continued the naval supremacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, especially in the northern region of the Persian Gulf.[17] This operation was a valuable experience and a turning point in joint air and naval operations, as well as the beginning of joint coordination and planning between the Air Force and the Navy during the eight years of the imposed war.[18] In this operation, Major Hossein Khaltabari, Lieutenant Colonel Abbas Duran, Colonel Alireza Yasini, Colonel Kian Sajdi, Colonel Mehdi Dadpi and Colonel Mohammad Ibrahim Kakavand all played key roles.[19]
On December 2, 1980, five days after Operation Morvarid, Bahram Afzali, the Commander of the Navy, declared that December 7 be known as ‘Navy Day’.
[1] Masbouk, M., Javaheri, A., Operation Morvarid: The saga of the largest joint air-sea operation of the holy defense, 7th December 1980, Tehran: Islamic Republic of Iran Army, Air Force, Strategic Publications Center, 2014, p.63.
[2] Lotfollahzadegan, A., Getting to know war, Vol. 2: Answers to ambiguities, Tehran: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps War Studies and Research Center, 2000, p. 40.
[3] Navias, S.M., E.R Hoten, War of Tankers: Attack on Commercial Shipping in the Iran-Iraq War, Translator: Pejman Pourjabari, Rahmat Qara, Tehran: Foundation for the Preservation of Works and Publication of Values of Sacred Defense, 2013, p. 65 and 66.
[4] Masbouq, M., Javaheri, A., Pearl Operation, p. 63.
[5]Ibid, pp. 63 and 64.
[6] Namaki Iraqi, A., Ramezani, R., Javaheri, A., history of air battles of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Volume 6: Operation Pearl and Nasr air battles of Azar and January 2016, Tehran: Islamic Republic of Iran Army, Air Force, Strategic Publications Center, 2016, p. 38 and 39.
[7] Ibid, p. 39.
[8] Saf Monthly, No. 382. November 2013. P. 59.
[9] Mansouri, M., the Dawn of Victory, Tehran: Islamic Republic of Iran Army, Navy, Office of Theoretical Research and Strategic Studies, 2018, p. 131.
[10] Soleimani Sawadkohi, Sh., The actions and results of the naval operations of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army against the aggressions and interventions of Iraq and extra-regional forces in the Persian Gulf, Tehran: The Islamic Republic of Iran Army, Aja Command and Headquarters University, Dafos Publications, 2017, p. 206.
[11] Atlas of enduring naval operations: the strategic navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army in eight years of holy defense. Tehran: Surah Mehr, 2015, pp. 164 and 165.
[12] Masbouq, M., Javaheri, A., Pearl Operation, pp. 96 and 97.
[13] Ibid, p. 105.
[14] Atlas of enduring naval operations: the strategic navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army in eight years of holy defense. P. 169.
[15] Air Force in Operation Morvarid, p. 61.
[16] Soleimani Sawadkohi, Sh., The actions and results of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy's operations against the aggressions and interventions of Iraq and extra-regional forces in the Persian Gulf, pp. 214 and 216.
[17] Saf Monthly, No. 382, Azar 2013, p. 45.
[18]Namaki Iraqi, A., Ramezani, R., Javaheri, A., History of Air Battles of the Islamic Republic Army, vol.6, p.88.
[19] Air Force in Operation Morvarid, p. 61.
