The Khorramshahr Dezh Garrison, located north of the city and east of the Ahvaz Road, was the first Iranian Army garrison to engage the enemy during the Iran-Iraq War. It served as the base for the 151st Dezh Battalion and was therefore known as the Khorramshahr Dezh Garrison.
The history of the garrison dates back to the late 1960s. Construction of the garrison began in 1969 and was gradually completed over the next two years. As work continued on the garrison and its border fortifications, the Iraqi government grew increasingly alarmed. It complained to international organizations, insisting that the fortresses, the garrison, and the Dezh Battalion be dismantled, yet these attempts ultimately failed. The purpose of building this garrison and fortress facilities was to station a specially organized battalion from the 92nd Armored Division along the border strip. Its mission was to protect the border area and, in the event of any attack or war, to hold the line for 48 hours until other units of the 92nd Division could arrive to provide support.⁠[1]
In terms of territorial defense, the 92nd Armored Division was responsible for covering the border line from Shalamcheh northward. A special battalion, the 151st Battalion, was deployed across a 90-kilometer border zone from Shalamcheh to the Talaiyeh outpost, within a defensive installation known as the Dezh. The battalion was deployed in a defensive line running from west to east. The first line, located three kilometers east of the border, consisted of 29 fortresses (Dezhs). The second line, three kilometers behind the first and on both sides of the penetration axes at Shalamcheh, Kilometer 15 Hussainiyeh, Koushk, and Hamid Station, consisted of 18 fortresses. The third line, six kilometers behind the second, had 12 fortresses.
Each Dezh was equipped with a large concrete bunker capable of housing two cadre officers or non-commissioned officers and twelve soldiers, along with two 106mm recoilless rifles mounted on jeeps, one 12.7mm heavy machine gun, and two M47 tanks. This battalion, with about 1,300 personnel, handled the initial defense against potential attacks.⁠[2]
Two central Dezhs commanded and controlled the border fortresses.⁠[3] To support the border Dezhs, a garrison was also built five kilometers north of Khorramshahr, which served as the main headquarters of the 151st Battalion. Four combat companies and one support company were stationed in this garrison.⁠[4]
After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the dismissal and purging of army personnel and the discharge of nearly half the conscript soldiers sharply reduced the strength of army units. The Dezh Garrison also suffered from severe shortages in both manpower and equipment, losing about 70 percent of its combat capability. Most of its military equipment was damaged, worn out, or beyond repair. The M47 tanks stationed in the fortresses had damaged tracks, their guns lacked firing pins, and many of their engines were faulty.⁠[5]
When the all-out Iraqi invasion of Iran began, the 151st Dezh Battalion was the first unit in the Khorramshahr to engage the enemy along the border strip.⁠[6] Together with other Iranian armed forces, it managed to halt the enemy troops in Shalamcheh until the ninth day of the war.⁠[7] However, despite fierce resistance, the Dezh Garrison north of Khorramshahr fell on October 19, 1980. A few days later, remaining Iranian forces, including survivors of the 151st Dezh Battalion, had to withdraw toward Abadan.⁠[8]
The 151st Dezh Battalion was heavily engaged in combat, and most of its commanders were either martyred or wounded within a few days.⁠[9] The unit had eight commanders in succession during this short period:⁠[10] Colonel Jamoosi, Major Chaharmahali, Major Shayan Behbahani, Captain Kebriaei, Lieutenant Geyootaj, Colonel Zamanfar, Colonel Moein-Darbari, Colonel Haqpooy, and Colonel Haj Hashemi.⁠[11]
This unit also took part in repelling the enemy’ s attack on the Zulfaqari neighborhood and stopping their advance north of Abadan,⁠[12] as well as in Operation Thamen al-Aemmah (as).⁠[13] Later, in October 1981, the 151st Dezh Battalion was moved to the Dobb-e Hardan area to help defend Ahvaz.⁠[14]
The Dezh Battalion participated in numerous operations, including Tariq al-Quds (November 1981) conducted for the liberation of Bostan under the command of the 3rd Brigade of the 92nd Division;⁠[15] Fath al-Mubin (March 1982), under the command of the 55th Airborne Brigade of Shiraz;⁠[16] and Beit al-Muqaddas, as part of Fath Headquarters, alongside other units of the 92nd Armored Division of Ahvaz, the 37th Armored Brigade, and the 55th Airborne Brigade.⁠[17]
In this operation, the units crossed the Karun River and engaged the enemy, eventually reaching the Ahvaz– Khorramshahr Road. After several days of fighting, Khorramshahr was finally liberated, and the units of the 151st Battalion were able to retake the Dezh Garrison north of the city.⁠[18]
The battalion also fought in operations Ramazan (July 1982) and Kheiber (February 1984).⁠[19] In addition, as part of Operation Valfajr 8 (January 28, 1986), it participated in a diversionary operation in the Um al-Rasas area to support Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps units.⁠[20]
Throughout the Iran-Iraq War, the Dezh Battalion was reorganized more than ten times. By the end of the war, 78 cadre personnel and 207 conscript soldiers from the unit had been martyred, and 320 personnel were taken prisoner of war or listed as missing in action.⁠[21] Among the most prominent martyrs of the 151st Dezh Battalion were Captain Esmaeil Zareiyan and Captain Mostafa Kebriaei, who served as company commanders in the battalion.⁠[22]
Today, the military unit stationed at the Dezh Garrison is known as the 72nd Brigade, currently commanded by Colonel Yazdan Kheradmand.⁠[23]
In 2021, the Khorramshahr Dezh Battalion Garrison was registered as a national heritage site in recognition of being the first garrison to begin defending the country during the Iran-Iraq War.⁠[24]