Terms & Concepts

War Room

Written by: Masoumeh Abedini Translated by: Hadi Qorbanyar
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A war room is a secure space where military operations are planned and forces are directed. It has a high level of security. This room is where up-to-date operational maps are kept and used to brief commanders and staff officers. Major strategic decisions—particularly those related to military and political confrontations—are made in war rooms. In each unit, the war room is usually overseen by the unit’s chief of staff, though in some cases this responsibility is assigned to the operations branch (G-3).

The war room’s core function is command and control. During wartime, it operates around the clock, every day of the week, handling coordination, troop deployment, monitoring and supervision, and even directing early-warning and alert centers. That said, it should not be confused with the role of commanders themselves. Commanders issue orders; the war room monitors, tracks, and manages how those orders are carried out. In fact, the war room’s central task is to gather information, analyze and process it, and then translate it into actionable guidance for field commanders. Key elements of a war room include communications systems, situation reports, and progress updates from the battlefield measured against predefined objectives.

War rooms have long played a key role in military planning. A well-known example goes back to May 1940, when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Britain. One of his first actions was to visit the Cabinet War Room—used by his wartime government—to assess the situation and address any shortcomings. He then publicly announced that he would direct the war from that very room. The underground complex dated back to 1938 and was used extensively throughout World War II. One section hosted Churchill’s cabinet meetings, while another was dedicated to operational maps. It is said that during one major military operation, Churchill spent three consecutive days in the room. Today, the site has become a museum.

War rooms also played a prominent role in military operations during the Iran-Iraq War. In 1980, a war room known as the Arvand Headquarters was set up in Khorramshahr, under the command of Colonel Aziz Moradi, commander of the 1st Brigade of the 92nd Division. After the exposure of the Nojeh Coup, Moradi fled to Iraq. He was replaced by Captain Javadi, commander of the 3rd Naval Base, who was appointed to lead the war room but was likewise unable to prevent the massive Iraqi assault. According to the agreed defense plan at the time, the Army and Gendarmerie were responsible for protecting the country’s border in the event of an Iraqi attack. If the enemy crossed the Shalamcheh border and reached the city gates, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and local civilians were to defend the city. This arrangement continued until the Baathist troops crossed into Iranian territory, at which point members of the IRGC—most notably Muhammad Jahanara—joined the war room and took on part of its responsibilities, responding to the growing sense of weakness among regular military units.

Another war room, known as the Gulf War Room, was established southeast of Ahvaz following intense enemy pressure to capture the city. Army and IRGC commanders were stationed there and managed to halt the Iraqi advance on the outskirts of Susangerd. Along the Dezful axis, as enemy forces advanced toward the Naderi Bridge and the Karkheh River—threatening Andimeshk and Dezful and endangering the continuity of the north–south road and railway—a separate war room was set up at Dezful Air Base. Through coordinated planning and command, Army and IRGC commanders succeeded in stopping the Iraqi troops and containing them west of the Karkheh.

Furthermore, other war rooms were also formed in Kermanshah and Sanandaj to plan and counter Iraqi offensives. These centers served as key hubs for commanders and senior military officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces.^[1]

 

^[1] Daerat al-Maaref-e Defa Muqaddas (A Summery of the Encyclopedia of the Sacred Defense), Vol. 1, Tehran: Markaz-e Daerat al-Maaref-e Pazhuheshgah-e Olum va Maaref-e Defa Muqaddas, 1390, Pp. 288–290.