Dehlaviyeh is a village thirteen kilometers northwest of Susangerd in Khuzestan Province, where Mostafa Chamran was martyred. It was occupied by Baathist forces on November 15, 1980, and liberated on September 18, 1981, during Operation Shahid Madani, after which it became the forward line of Iranian forces defending Susangerd.

The administrative center of this region during the Sassanid era and the early centuries of Islam was a city called Nahr Tiri. It was named after the turbid, muddy waters of the Karkheh River that flowed nearby. The region later became known as Hoveyzeh. During the Islamic caliphate period, it was a lush fortified settlement, and by the Qajar era, it had lost much of its former significance. After the Islamic Revolution, the region was renamed Dasht-e Azadegan. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Jebhat al-Tahrir group — affiliated with the Iraqi Baath Party — began separatist activities in various cities and villages, including Dehlaviyeh.

After Iraq’ s invasion of Iran, the Iraqi army needed to cross the Dasht-e Azadegan to capture Ahvaz and ultimately occupy Khuzestan. Iraq dispatched its troops along two independent axes. The first runs through Chazabeh– Bostan– Susangerd– Ahvaz, and the second through Talaiyeh– Jofeir– Karkheh-Koor– Ahvaz. The forces that have the heaviest clashes with the local population and fighters in and around Dehlaviyeh were those advancing along the first axis.⁠[1]

On September 26, 1980, Iraq occupied Bostan. The villages along the Susangerd– Bostan Road were too small to pose any significant obstacle to the Iraqi advance. On the eighth day of the war, Iraq’ s 9th Division bypassed Susangerd and reached Hamidieh, eventually occupying Susangerd. The division’ s commander, Tali al-Douri, executed 58 Arab residents of Dasht-e Azadegan for refusing to cooperate. Some of the villagers of Dehlaviyeh who found themselves encircled managed to flee, while others were captured. Following a bold assault by Ghayoor Asli (martyred), the Iraqi army withdrew, and on October 2, Susangerd was liberated, and Iraq evacuated Bostan as well.⁠[2]

In November 1980, Iraq attacked Dehlaviyeh again. The defending fighters were very few in number. Forces from Tabriz arrived to help defend the village. Ali Tajallaei (martyred), fifty Tabriz Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, local volunteers, and the Susangerd IRGC units put up such fierce resistance that Iraqi troops reported over the radio that operations in Dehlaviyeh had become bogged down. Iraqi troops then advanced on the town from three sides, and Dehlaviyeh eventually fell. In one of his notes, Tajallaei wrote: “ The enemy attacked the Dehlaviyeh axis with dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers and more than 4,000 infantry forces. They contacted me and told me to withdraw. I said I would stand until my last breath”.⁠[3]

On November 17, 1980, the operation to break the siege of Susangerd began. During the effort to retake Dehlaviyeh, Dr. Chamran was wounded. The number of martyrs was rising, but the liberation of Dehlaviyeh remained a priority for Iran. The siege of Susangerd was broken. Iraqi forces withdrew from the city and took up positions north of the Allah-Akbar Hills and west of the midpoint between Susangerd and Dehlaviyeh. Susangerd was freed, but the Allah-Akbar Hills and Dehlaviyeh remained in Iraqi hands. Dehlaviyeh and western Susangerd were among the fronts under the responsibility of the Irregular Warfare Headquarters commanded by Dr. Chamran. Iraj Rostami, the operations officer of the headquarters, fought alongside Dr. Chamran. To liberate Dehlaviyeh, the Allah-Akbar Hills first had to be taken. As long as they remained in Iraqi hands, the enemy had a commanding view over the entire plain, making any liberation effort extremely difficult. From the start of the year, a three-kilometer canal had been under construction parallel to the Susangerd– Bostan Road in the direction of Dehlaviyeh. The canal was initially used as a trench. However, digging continued westward to within 800 meters of the enemy line.

Finally, on May 20, 1981, the order for an operation north of the Dehlaviyeh area was issued. IRGC personnel, together with Dr. Chamran’ s forces, began moving through the canal toward the enemy early in the night and reached the enemy line at 3:30 AM. The forces split into two groups, flanking the enemy from left and right and catching them off guard. The most significant outcome of the operation was the capture of the Allah-Akbar Hills.

In June 1981, clashes in Dehlaviyeh intensified. The two sides had drawn so close to each other that they were fighting with grenades. Iraj Rostami was martyred by an artillery shell during the battle to liberate Dehlaviyeh.

On June 21, 1981, the Islamic Consultative Assembly voted to remove Bani-Sadr from office. That same day, Dr. Mostafa Chamran was martyred on the Dehlaviyeh front when mortar shrapnel struck him, leaving the nation in a deep sorrow.⁠[4]

After the operation that was named in honor of the martyred Captain Rostami, the enemy withdrew from Dehlaviyeh despite holding it, and repositioned to its west. To clear the Iraqi earthworks from the village of Daghagheleh to Dehlaviyeh and liberate the area, a joint IRGC-Army operation named Shahid Madani was carried out south of the Bostan– Susangerd Road. Dehlaviyeh was thus liberated and served as the forward line of Iranian forces defending Susangerd until Operation Tariq al-Quds.

Today, the Martyr Chamran Memorial stands in Dehlaviyeh at the site of his martyrdom. The memorial was inaugurated in 1995, and ten years later, the remains of an unidentified martyr were buried at this site. The complex includes a cinema hall, library, museum, and prayer room.⁠[5]