Gilan is one of Iran’s northern provinces, and its people actively contributed to the Iran–Iraq War. Gilan Province is located in northern Iran with a population of about 2.5 million and an area of 14,711 square kilometers. Stretching approximately 235 kilometers from northwest to southeast, the province has a width ranging from 25 to 105 kilometers. The Alborz Mountain range, with an average elevation of 3,000 meters, forms a wall-like barrier along the western and southern borders of Gilan, leaving the Manjil valley as the only vehicular route connecting the province to the Iranian plateau. Gilan is bordered by the Caspian Sea and the Republic of Azerbaijan to the north, Ardabil Province to the west, Zanjan and Qazvin provinces to the south, and Mazandaran Province to the east. Centered in Rasht, Gilan Province consists of 17 counties, 52 cities, 43 districts, 109 rural districts, and 2,583 villages.⁠[1]

The uprising of Mirza Kuchik Khan and the Jungle Movement against foreign colonial powers during the late Qajar period are among Gilan’s significant historical developments.⁠[2] The people of Gilan were also active in the struggle against the Pahlavi regime, offering 63 martyrs and 57 veterans for the victory of the Islamic Revolution.⁠[3]

With the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, volunteers and relief groups of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from Gilan reached Sarpol-e Zahab in late September 1980 and began engaging the enemy on October 5, 1980. A group of forces from Gilan also arrived in Khorramshahr from the city of Rudsar on the third day of the war to take part in defending the country.

At the beginning of the imposed war, fighters from Gilan and Mazandaran jointly formed the 25th Karbala Brigade and were dispatched to the frontlines. During the first year of the war, 27,000 IRGC and Basij forces from the two provinces completed training courses and were sent to the war zones. In the operation to liberate Khorramshahr, 280 people from Gilan were martyred. In addition, 98 were martyred in Operation Ramazan, 3 in Preliminary Valfajr, and 100 in Operation Muharram.⁠[4]

As the war continued, the deployed forces from Gilan were organized into an independent unit,⁠[5] and in 1982, the Quds Brigade was formed with three battalions named Hezbollah, Rouhullah, and Tharallah (as). These battalions initially operated in Sanandaj to provide security throughout the central areas of Kurdistan Province.⁠[6]

In late 1983, the Quds Brigade was renamed the 105th Special Quds Brigade. Between 1982 and 1985, it carried out twenty internal operations, including patrols, assaults, ambushes, and pursuits targeting anti-revolutionary elements.⁠[7]

In mid-1986, the Imam Hussain (as) and Malek Ashtar battalions were added to the brigade, upgrading the Quds Brigade to the 52nd Quds Division.⁠[8] Initially acting under the command of the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shuhada Headquarters, this division later integrated into the IRGC Ground Force.⁠[9] The division was organized in less than two months and participated in Operation Karbala 2 in the Haj Omran region with five combat battalions and three combat-support ones.⁠[10] During this operation, the 52nd Quds Division was encircled by enemy forces but managed to withdraw successfully.⁠[11]

On June 21, 1987, Operation Nasr 4 was carried out in the Mawat region of Iraqi Kurdistan with the participation of the IRGC units.⁠[12] The Quds Division took part in the operation with seven infantry combat battalions and four combat-support ones.⁠[13] It resulted in the liberation of 50 square kilometers of Iraqi territory as well as Mawat city.⁠[14]

The division also participated in the defensive phases of operations Nasr 8 and Beit al-Muqaddas 2 with five infantry combat battalions and four combat-support battalions in the Mawat region and the Garde-Resh and Qamish heights.⁠[15]

In March 1988, the IRGC launched Operation Valfajr 10 in the Halabja Plain of Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah Governorate⁠[16] in which the Quds Division participated with five combat battalions and four combat-support ones.⁠[17] As a result, the Iranian border town of Nousud and the Iraqi city of Halabja were liberated.⁠[18]

In 1988, the Quds Division took part in Operation Beit al-Muqaddas 7 in the Shalamcheh region with five combat battalions and three combat-support battalions. Following Iran’s acceptance of UN Resolution 598 and Iraq’s renewed invasion of Iranian territory, the division engaged the enemy with three battalions and, alongside other IRGC units, forced the Iraqi troops to retreat.⁠[19]

Among the most prominent martyrs of the 16th Quds Division are Hussain Amlaki, deputy commander of the division; Mahmoud Qulipour, chief of staff; and Mahdi Khoshsirat, commander of the 2nd Brigade and deputy division commander.⁠[20]

During the Sacred Defense, the Iranian Navy units in Gilan were active in training operations. The Baqir al-Olum (as) Naval Technical Training Center in Rasht was responsible for training conscripts and both permanent and contractual non-commissioned officers. Over the eight years of war, 5,765 individuals were trained at this center and served in naval regions, of whom 26 were martyred, and 87 were wounded.⁠[21] Moreover, the Iranian Marine Corps Training Center in Manjil, opened in 1972, organized training programs for naval commandos. These commandos played a significant role during the Sacred Defense, particularly in the defense of Khorramshahr at the beginning of the war.⁠[22] Javad Safari, the first naval commando martyred during the 34-day defense of Khorramshahr, was from Gilan Province.⁠[23]

Gilan Province was targeted several times by Iraqi aircraft in 1985–1987.⁠[24] On February 14, 1987, enemy aircraft targeted areas of Rasht while attempting to bomb Rasht Airport, resulting in the complete destruction of four houses, damaging of ten others, and the martyrdom of ten civilians, both elderly and young, while injuring several more. On March 5, 1988, the Rajababad village near Pirbazar, north of Rasht Airport, was also attacked, and five members of a family—a mother and her four children- were martyred.⁠[25] In total, the aerial bombardments of Gilan during the imposed war led to the martyrdom of 23 people and injuries to 16.⁠[26]

Gilan Province served as a major supporter of the 52nd Quds Division, providing logistical and defensive supplies. Over the eight years of the Iran-Iraq War, 10,800 truckloads of public aid were sent from Gilan to the warfronts.⁠[27]

Following the outbreak of the imposed war, residents of war-affected cities were also moved to Gilan Province. Initially, war migrants were settled in camps in Bandar Anzali by the Red Crescent Society. Later, this responsibility was handed over to the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, which accommodated migrants in government villas across the province—from Chaboksar to Astara—as well as in several centers in Rasht. As the number of war migrants in Gilan increased to about 10,000, the Provincial Foundation for War Migrants was established under the supervision of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee. This foundation accommodated approximately 6,000 to 7,000 migrants in coastal government villas and urban buildings and provided hot meals during their first two months of residence. After the end of the imposed war, the foundation was dissolved, and most migrants returned to their hometowns.⁠[28]

Overall, during the Sacred Defense, 8000 individuals of Gilan Province were martyred, 20,000 were wounded, and 2,600 were taken captive. Among the women of Gilan Province, 33 were martyred, 65 were wounded, and 316 were recognized as veterans and contributors.⁠[29]