The 28‌^th Rouhollah Division was one of the units of the Islamic Revolution Committee that was present during the Sacred Defense.

With the victory of the Islamic Revolution on 22‌^nd   Bahman 1357 (11 February 1979), the Islamic Revolution Committees, which had formed spontaneously and informally under the supervision of clergy in mosques, became an official institution following the appointment of Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani by Imam Khomeini.⁠[1] This institution was responsible for combating social vices, narcotics, and public indecency, protecting government facilities, protecting state officials, and confronting the counter-revolution.⁠[2]

With the start of the Imposed War, the officials of the Islamic Revolution Committee adopted an approach whereby the Committee’ s guards could be present at the war fronts alongside carrying out their other duties.⁠[3] The first major dispatch of guards from the Tehran Islamic Revolution Committee took place on 23‌^rd   Mehr 1359 (15 October 1980), in the form of the Imam Musa ibn Ja’ far (AS) Battalion, to the fronts of Khorramshahr and Abadan.⁠[4] These forces first fought in Khorramshahr and took part in repelling the enemy’ s attack on the Zolfaghari district (Abadan) in Aban 1359 (October/November 1980).⁠[5] Forces of the Islamic Revolution Committee were also present in this same area during Operation Thamen al-A’ emmeh (the breaking of the siege of Abadan) on 5 Mehr 1360 (27 September 1981).⁠[6]

Following numerous requests from the forces of the Islamic Revolution Committee to be dispatched to the battlefronts, and due to the lack of a coherent structure for sending this institution’ s volunteers to the front, the Imam Musa ibn Ja’ far (AS) Brigade was established on 28‌^th   Ordibehesht 1362 (18 May 1983) at the Lashgarak Garrison, organized into 4 battalions, and dispatched to western Iran⁠[7]; in the autumn of 1362 (1983), it took part in Operation Val-Fajr 4.⁠[8]

On 10‌^th   Esfand 1364 (1 March 1986), the Qavamin Brigade was also formed from the forces of the Islamic Revolution Committee and stationed on Majnoon Island and in Faw (under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), with 2 of its battalions taking responsibility for defending one of the axes of the city of Faw.⁠[9] This brigade also took part, under IRGC command, in Operation Karbala-4,⁠[10] and, after overcoming various harassing obstacles, attacked its objectives, including Umm al-Rasas Island, Umm al-Bawni Island, Qat’ eh Island, and Suhayl Island on the Arvand River (Shatt al-Arab). The brigade’ s “ Qamar Bani Hashim (AS) ” Battalion, after two months of training, also took part in Operation Karbala-5.⁠[11]

After Operation Karbala-5, on 1‌^st   Bahman 1365 (21 January 1987), the Islamic Revolution Committee’ s Musa ibn Ja’ far (AS) and Qavamin brigades were merged to form the 28‌^th Rouhollah Division.⁠[12] During this period, in addition to two battalions of the Rouhollah Division being present in the defense of the Faw area, 2 of its battalions also took responsibility for defending against Iraq’ s petrochemical facilities, and, from 26‌^th   Ordibehesht 1366 (16 May 1987), for defending Mahi (Fayyaz) Island and part of Bawarin Island. The division’ s artillery also began operating on the southern operational axes.⁠[13]

On 6‌^th Farvardin 1367 (26 March 1988), one battalion of troops and one company of boat helmsmen from the 28‌^th Rouhollah Division were assigned to the 10‌^th Seyyed al-Shohada (AS) Division (IRGC) and took part in Operation Beit ol-Moqaddas 4 in the Darbandikhan area of Iraq. In this operation, the heights of Shakh-e Shemiran and Shakh-e Sourmar, and Posht-e Qal’ eh, along with 13 villages, were liberated.⁠[14]

After that, forces of the 28‌^th Rouhollah Division took part, in Ordibehesht and Khordad 1367 (April/May and May/June 1988), in two operations, Beit ol-Moqaddas 6 and 7, in the general area of Sulaymaniyah, in the northwest of the Hormedan plain, in Mawat (Iraqi Kurdistan), and in the Shalamcheh area.⁠[15]

As the combat organization of the 28‌^th Rouhollah Division expanded, the division’ s naval unit, named the Musa ibn Ja’ far (AS) Flotilla, was established, and one amphibious battalion, one diving company, and one helmsman company of it operated on the fronts. The division’ s naval unit also took part in Operation Val-Fajr 10 (Darbandikhan Lake) and Beit ol-Moqaddas 7 (Shalamcheh).⁠[16]

With the Monafeqin’ s (Mojahedin-e Khalq) attack on western Iran in Mordad 1365 (July/August 1986), forces of the 28‌^th Rouhollah Division took part in Operation Mersad;⁠[17] 3 battalions of this division’ s forces blocked the Eslamabad-to-Malavi road against the Monafeqin, and then, together with other combatants, attacked them from three flanks — south of Eslamabad, the Malavi road, and Chahar Zebar — defeating the Monafeqin.⁠[18]

The 28‌^th Rouhollah Division remained on the Imam Reza (AS) Road (Khuzestan) until 1367 (1988) and was transferred to Tehran after the end of the Imposed War.⁠[19]

Seyyed Mojtaba Abdollahi commanded the 28‌^thRouhollah Division during the Sacred Defense,⁠[20] and 1,200 of its personnel were martyred during the Sacred Defense.⁠[21]

With the passage of the bill establishing the Law Enforcement Force by the Islamic Consultative Assembly on 30‌^th Khordad 1369 (20 June 1990), the Islamic Revolution Committee was merged with the Gendarmerie and the Municipal Police,⁠[22] and the Law Enforcement Force began operating on 12‌^th Farvardin 1370 (1 April 1991).⁠[23]

After the merger of the law-enforcement forces, the Rouhollah Division, with its 8 combat battalions, artillery, equipment, and organizational structure, was dispatched to Tehran, and the Law Enforcement Force’ s Special Guard Units were formed. Several combat operations against bandits in eastern Iran in 1370 and 1371 (1991– 1993) were among the actions of this unit. In later years, riot-control battalions (Special Guard Unit) were formed from the remaining personnel of this division.⁠[24]