With its many industrial centers, the Markazi Province played a major supporting role in the defense effort during the Iran-Iraq War and made a significant contribution.

Markazi Province covers an area of approximately 29,264 square kilometers. It is bordered by Tehran and Qazvin to the north, Lorestan and Isfahan to the south, Qom to the east, and Hamedan to the west.⁠[1] In 1937, it was incorporated into the First Province centered in Rasht. In 1960, most of it came under the administration of Tehran Province. On February 27, 1978, Markazi was separated from Tehran, and the cities of Arak, Saveh, Qom, Khomein, Tafresh, and Kashan were included within it.⁠[2] In 1978, Kashan was detached and placed under Isfahan Province. In 1979– 1981, the cities of Sarband and Delijan were added, and in 1986, Qom was separated. Today, the province consists of 12 counties: Arak (the provincial capital), Mahallat, Saveh, Tafresh, Khomein, Farahan, Delijan, Shazand, Ashtian, Komijan, Zarandieh, and Khondab.⁠[3] According to the 2016 census, its population stood at 1,429,475.⁠[4] The majority of the province’ s residents are Muslim, with small religious minorities: Christians (0.05%), Jews (0.03%), and Zoroastrians (0.02%).⁠[5]

The fact that Imam Khomeini (ra) was born in Khomein made the province an early supporter of his movement from the very beginning. After news of his arrest on June 5, 1963, people in the province’ s cities held demonstrations. Also, in Khomein, religious scholars such as Ayatollah Seyyed Morteza Pasandideh (Imam Khomeini’ s elder brother) encouraged the public to stage protests in front of Shahrbani (city police) building.⁠[6] In the mosques across the province, in addition to anti-Pahlavi speeches, prayers were offered on various occasions for Imam Khomeini’ s well-being.⁠[7]

As protests spread in 1977, alongside the slogans chanted in gatherings, mosques, and streets, anti-Pahlavi graffiti also appeared on walls.⁠[8] Some residents of Khomein, Arak, Qom, and Mahallat formed armed groups and took part in anti-Pahlavi activities.⁠[9] As protests against the Pahlavi regime intensified, and following the September 1978 strike by workers at the Arak Machinery Manufacturing Plant, the plant’ s secretaries, instructors, foremen, employees, and training‑center staff joined the walkout. In Khomein and Mahallat, schools, the bazaar, and shops were completely closed in October 1978.⁠[10] Later on, educational centers in Saveh and Tafresh were also shut down.⁠[11] In early 1979, scattered demonstrations were held in parts of Tafresh, Ashtian, and Khomein, while the entire city of Arak was closed down.⁠[12]

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) started its activities in the provincial capital. From the very beginning, forces from the province were dispatched to the west and northwest of the country — including Sanandaj, Kamyaran, and Mahabad — to suppress anti-revolutionaries. They were the first group at that time to be systematically integrated with the Army units, and together they carried out joint operations to clear the Baneh– Sardasht Road.⁠[13] Seventy IRGC members participated in that operation, during which Kazem Sameni and Gholamreza Faridi were martyred — the first martyrs of the province after the Revolution’ s victory. Pilot Mansour Vatanpoor was the first Army member of this province who was martyred on October 1, 1980, in Susangerd.⁠[14]

With the continuation of the Kurdistan crisis, the Markazi IRGC was selected to serve as the support province for Baneh and Sardasht. The task of supplying defensive forces to these cities was placed under the province’ s responsibility.⁠[15]

With the beginning of Iraq’ s invasion of Iran, 250 forces in the form of two groups under the command of the late Musa Azizabadi Farahani and Abbas Jamalian were sent to the southern fronts. Given the special conditions of the early days of the war, they carried out several operations in Dobb-e Hardan, Foliabad, Farsiyab, the Hamid Garrison area, and the Zolfaqari neighborhood in Abadan.

In the second year of the war, forces from the province were dispatched to the fronts in the form of several combat battalions. The Shahdi Nasser Bakhtiari and Shahid Siavash Amiri battalions were deployed to the Gilan-e Gharb to participate in Operation Matla al-Fajr (capture of Shiakooh), while the Rahim Anjafi (martyred) Battalion was sent to the south to take part in Operation Tariq al-Quds (liberation of Bostan).

Markazi Province’ s forces opened their third year on the front with Operation Fath al‑Mubin, joining the operation with two combat battalions. On the eve of Operation Beit al-Muqaddas and the liberation of Khorramshahr, the province deployed five combat battalions named Ali ibn Abi Talib (as), Imam Hassan Mujtaba (as), Imam Hussain (as), Imam Sajjad (as), and Janbazan-e Ruhollah for the liberation of Khorramshahr.⁠[16] During Operation Beit al-Muqaddas and the liberation of Khorramshahr, 272 forces from the province were martyred, and 5,500 were wounded.⁠[17] On August 4, 1982, following the arrival of the bodies of 71 individuals who were martyred during the Sacred Defense in Arak, the Friday prayer leader, the Governor-General, and other revolutionary institutions issued a joint statement declaring Thursday, August 5, a holiday and announcing three days of public mourning across the Markazi Province.⁠[18]

After Operation Beit al-Muqaddas and the liberation of Khorramshahr, forces from Markazi Province joined the 17th Ali ibn Abi Talib (as) Brigade. The brigade was active in the province from June 1982 to June 1988. In addition to providing support and manpower in Kurdistan (Sardasht IRGC), the province’ s combat organization was also responsible for supporting and supplying the Ramazan Headquarters (extraterritorial forces).

The 42nd Qadr Combat Engineering Brigade was formed in early 1985 under the IRGC Ground Force and commanded by Muhammad-Reza Attar. Considering the industrial and technical capacities of Markazi Province, full logistical support for this brigade was assigned to the province.⁠[19]

The independent Fajr Air Defense Battalion of the Arak IRGC, commanded by Hamzeh Rahimian, was formed and equipped in late 1985. Its only weaponry — a number of 23mm anti-aircraft guns — was deployed across the cities of Arak, Saveh, Khomein, Shazand, Mahallat, Tafresh, and Ashtian.⁠[20]

In the spring of 1988, while the 17th Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS) Brigade was defending its positions on the Rishen and Mirsoor heights (Seyyed Sadeq, Iraq), the IRGC’ s 71st Ruhollah Brigade was established, and the cities of the province were organized under its command. In July 1988, the brigade’ s rear camp was set up in the Oveis Qarni region northeast of Kermanshah (on the Paveh road).

In late July 1988, as the Munafiqeen invaded from the Qasr‑e Shirin axis, the 71st Ruhollah Brigade, positioned nearby, was one of the first units to confront them and took part in their defeat during Operation Mersad.⁠[21]

Throughout the Iran-Iraq War, the Markazi Province War Support Headquarters collected and sent public donations to supply the forces. The Jihad-e Sazandegi War Support Headquarters of the Markazi Province also formed multiple road-building machinery groups that operated on the fronts. Among its key initiatives were establishing an ice factory, providing drinking water, setting up a bakery unit, constructing two public bathhouses in Susangerd, building kiosks and containers for field bath and sanitation services, creating a Toyota vehicle training and repair center (widely used in operational areas), undertaking research projects, and participating in engineering battalions and companies during operations including Imam Mahdi (as), Farmandeh‑ye Koll‑e Qova Khomeini (ra), Tariq al‑Quds, Beit al‑Muqaddas, Muharram, Valfajr‑e Muqaddamati, Qaem Al‑e Muhammad (as), Kheibar, Valfajr 8, Valfajr 9, Karbala 4, Karbala 5, Nasr 1, Karbala 5, Valfajr 10, and Beit al‑Muqaddas 5.

During the Iran-Iraq War, 78 personnel of the Jahad-e Sazandegi Organization of Markazi Province were martyred, and 236 were wounded. Haj Muhammad-Sadeq Babaei is a prominent martyr who was a member of Jahad-e Sazandegi.⁠[22]

Beyond sending personnel, the Red Crescent Society and other departments and organizations also supplied the fronts with technical and specialized support. Numerous factories in the industrial city of Arak modified their production lines to meet the industrial needs of the frontlines. Some of the factories that played a role during that period include Mashinsazi, Azar-Aab, Hepco, Pars Wagon, Aluminum-Sazi, Avangan, and others. In addition, some smaller urban machining workshops accepted military orders and machined shells, mortars, and hand grenade bodies.⁠[23] Due to the presence of many active industrial factories supporting the war, the Markazi Province was targeted by enemy air attacks 27 times until March-April 1988.

The Armenian community of the Markazi Province also cooperated with the War Support Headquarters while helping war victims. Yurik Sardarian, Henrik Hartonian, Galust Babumian, and Homayak Mahmoudian are among the Armenians who sacrificed their lives in defense of the country.⁠[24]

Altogether, Markazi Province lost 5,216 martyrs, saw 5,421 residents wounded with over 25 percent disability, and had 759 taken as prisoners of war. Prominent commanders from the province who were martyred during the war include Nasser Bakhtiari, Kaveh Nabiri, Mustafa Chamran, Rahim Aqanajafi, Mujtaba Akbarzadeh, and Ahmad Hussaini.⁠[25] Gholamreza Danesh-Ashtiani (representative of Tafresh and Ashtian in the Islamic Consultative Assembly) and Mirza Ali Hashemi Sanjani (representative of Arak in the Islamic Consultative Assembly) were martyred in the terrorist bombing of June 28, 1981.⁠[26] On February 20, 1986, the aircraft carrying Hojatoleslam Sheikh Fazlollah Mahallati — representative of Mahallat and Delijan in the first term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and Imam Khomeini’ s representative in the IRGC — was attacked by two Iraqi fighters near Ahvaz and crashed, resulting in his martyrdom.⁠[27]

After the Iran-Iraq War and with the emergence of ISIS in the region, the Ruhollah IRGC Brigade of Markazi Province created the Fatemiyoon and Fatihin extraterritorial battalions and sent forces to Syria and Iraq in continuous rotations to defend the holy shrines. Forty of these volunteers were martyred.⁠[28]