Ali Gereh Zad is a chain of hills that, because of its tactical and military importance, saw some major events during the Iran-Iraq War.

The Ali Gereh Zad Hills are located at 32° 35′ 97″ N and 47° 97′ 45″ E,⁠[1] in the far northwestern part of Khuzestan Province. They sit roughly on the border with the Moosian district of Dehloran County in Ilam Province. The hills are about eleven kilometers from Imamzadeh Abbas (as) and lie south of the Andimeshk– Dehloran Road, before the Chananeh intersection.⁠[2] Their location, size, height, and natural features — plus the cover they provide for troops and equipment, and their commanding view over the Andimeshk– Dehloran Road and the surrounding plains, especially Dasht-e Abbas — give this area a unique tactical advantage. According to the defensive plan provided by the 2nd Dezful Armored Brigade of the 92nd Division, the Iranian Army planners had identified this place years earlier as the second-best defensive position (after Ein-Khosh) to block an Iraqi advance.⁠[3]

When Iraq invaded Iran on September 22, 1980, Iraq’ s 10th Armored Division entered Iranian territory via Sharhani. By September 25, after taking Iranian positions at Ein-Khosh, they kept pushing east along the Dehloran– Andimeshk Road.⁠[4] As the Iraqis moved down that road, the 2nd Dezful Armored Brigade pulled back eastward and set up a defensive position at Ali Gereh Zad, where they fought back. But on September 26, the sheer volume of fire from the Iraqi 10th Armored Division’ s tanks broke the resistance, and the Ali Gereh Zad Hills fell to the Iraqis.⁠[5]

By September 27, 1980, after capturing the Qahveh Khaneh intersection and the villages of Sorkheh-Falyeh and Sorkheh-Saleh, west of the Karkheh River, the Iraqis had reached within four kilometers of the river.⁠[6] With that advance, the Ali Gereh Zad Hills — fifteen kilometers from the Karkheh — were now deep inside occupied territory, making it hard for Iranian forces to reach them again.⁠[7]

During planning for the Iranian Army’ s first offensive operation to retake the occupied areas west of the Karkheh River, capturing the Ali Gereh Zad Hills was one of the main objectives for the 21st Hamzeh Division.⁠[8] That operation, named Pol-e Naderi, took place on October 15, 1980.⁠[9] Despite some early success, the combination of the enemy’ s better tactics and heavy fire meant that Iranian forces could not take their targets, including the Ali Gereh Zad Hills, and they had to fall back.⁠[10]

The height of Ali Gereh Zad sits at the heart of the hills overlooking the Andimeshk– Dehloran Road. Iraq’ s 10th Armored Division (Al-Qadisiyah), under the Hattin Forces (Iraq’ s 4th Corps), set up a field artillery unit there with 180 guns, commanded by Colonel Khalil Muhammad al-Neama. From the moment they occupied the area, this artillery unit shelled the cities of Dezful, Andimeshk, Haft-Tappeh, and Shush with heavy artillery. Two Jordanian commando battalions known as the Barmouk Forces were responsible for protecting this artillery at Ali Gereh Zad region.⁠[11]

From September 1980 through April 1982 — the eighteen months that the Ali Gereh Zad Hills and surrounding areas stayed in Iraqi hands — Iranian units, especially the Dezful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), carried out reconnaissance and guerrilla operations to prepare for retaking the area.⁠[12] Because the Iraqis had positioned their artillery in the region, the Ali Gereh Zad Hills took on special importance in planning for Operation Fath al-Mubin, set to take place in the early months of 1982 west of Dezful. The 2nd Brigade of the 21st Hamzeh Division and the 27th Muhammad Rasulullah (pbuh) Brigade were the units tasked with attacking this artillery position. Hassan Baqeri, commander of the IRGC Nasr Operational Headquarters, put the 27th Muhammad Rasulullah (pbuh) Brigade in charge of reconnoitering the eastern heights of Dasht-e Abbas, including the Ali Gereh Zad Hills.⁠[13]

With the brigade’ s intelligence unit deployed to the area, reconnaissance was intensified.⁠[14] Commanders closely monitored the work, sometimes even taking part in the operations themselves. At one point, Muhammad Ebrahim Hemmat, deputy commander of the 27th Muhammad Rasulullah (pbuh) Brigade, used a clever radio deception to trick the enemy and locate the positions of Iraq’ s 4th Corps artillery batteries around the Ali Gereh Zad Hills.⁠[15] Meanwhile, Ahmad Motevasselian, commander of the 27th Muhammad Rasulullah (pbuh) Brigade, brought along local people who knew the area and slipped deep into the occupied zone around Ali Gereh Zad, pinpointing the Iraqi artillery positions to find a way for a surprise attack.⁠[16]

Operation Fath al-Mubin was launched on March 22, 1982.⁠[17] In the first hours of the operation, the Ali Gereh Zad Hills, where the Iraqis had positioned over 82 artillery pieces, were captured in a swift, surprise move by the attacking battalions from the 2nd Brigade of the 21st Hamzeh Division and the 27th Muhammad Rasulullah (pbuh) Brigade, before they could fire a single shot.⁠[18] With the capture of the Ali Gereh Zad Hills and the taking of the Iraqi artillery, the cities of Dezful, Andimeshk, Shush, and Haft-Tappeh, Dezful Air Base, Karkheh Garrison, as well as parts of the Andimeshk– Ahvaz Road and railway were finally out of enemy artillery range for the first time in eighteen months.⁠[19]

The story of capturing that artillery battery inspired Rasool Molla Qolipoor to make the film “ Mazraeh-ye Pedari” (Father’ s Farm) in 2003.⁠[20]

After being retaken in Operation Fath al-Mubin, the Ali Gereh Zad Hills remained quiet and peaceful for the rest of the Iran-Iraq War. After the war ended, like other war zone memorial sites, the area took on new life with the arrival of Rahian-e Noor caravans. A notable moment was when the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei (ra), joined one of these caravans in March 2010 and visited the area.⁠[21]