Groups, Institutions, Organiza
Zahedan 88th Armored Division
Mohsen Shir-Muhammad
13 دورہ
The 88th Armored Division, based in Zahedan, is one of the key units of the Iranian Army in the southeast, which played a role in defending the country during the Iran–Iraq War.
Nearly a century has passed since the division was first established in 1921, when Iran’s Modern Army was formed. Consequently, various military units, including the ones active in the eastern parts of the country, were merged, and on January 4, 1922, the Eastern Division was officially established. Then, permanent garrisons were built across eastern Iran including the Sistan Garrison, and the Sistan Brigade came under the Eastern Division’s command.
Following the Allied occupation of Iran in September 1941 and the fall of Reza Shah, most Army units, including the Sistan Brigade, were dissolved. However, six months later, the brigade was restructured under the name 14th Makran Brigade. In 1945, when Allied forces withdrew from Iran, units of the Makran Brigade were stationed in Sistan, Zahedan, and Khash.
In 1968, following the administrative separation of Bam from Sistan, the Makran Brigade was restructured and renamed the Independent 88th Chabahar Brigade. It was stationed in Chabahar to safeguard Iran’s eastern international borders and the Gulf of Oman coastline, and to help stabilize the surrounding region. By 1975, the brigade had expanded to include three battalions, namely the 197th and 196th mechanized battalions and the 157th Infantry Battalion. One year later, to complete its combat structure, additional units were attached from other regions, including Haftgel 231st Tank Battalion (Khuzestan), 255th Tank Battalion (Zahedan), and the 300th and 381st artillery battalions (Maragheh). That same year, the 88th Brigade was relocated from Chabahar to Zahedan and renamed the Zahedan Independent 88th Armored Brigade.[1]
After the Islamic Revolution, Iran faced widespread domestic crises, and the Sistan and Baluchestan region also experienced unrest and armed clashes. Owing to the efforts of the 88th Brigade and other armed forces, the attempts to destabilize and dismember Iran were contained. One of the brigade’s major actions was suppressing armed gangs in Bampur and Iranshahr.
Due to Sistan and Baluchestan’s strategic position on the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, the brigade was later upgraded to Zahedan 88th Armored Division, with several Army Ground Forces units subsequently reassigned to strengthen its operational capacity. The division’s structure comprised the 1st Armored Brigade in Zahedan, the 2nd Armored Brigade in Khash, the 3rd Armored Brigade in Iranshahr, the 212th Armored Cavalry Battalion in Zabol, the division artillery in Iranshahr, and the support units in Zahedan.[2]
When the war broke out, many of the division’s professional personnel, especially technical specialists such as tank crews, APC operators, engineers, anti-tank weapons teams, and communications staff, were deployed to the frontlines as volunteers. A few months later, combat units known as Salman Combat Group (Salman 1-5) were organized and dispatched to the southern, western, and northwestern frontlines.[3]
By 1983, the division’s units were deployed to the war zones as a brigade. Iranshahr 3rd Armored Brigade was sent to northwestern Iran near Marivan to participate in operations Zafar 2 and Zafar 3.[4] In October of the same year, Zahedan 1st Armored Brigade, along with all its subordinate units, moved to Marivan, where it engaged directly on the frontlines during Operation Zafar 6.[5]
In late 1983, the Khash 2nd Armored Brigade was deployed to the Meimak and later Marivan and Penjwen, where it took part in Operation Valfajr 4.[6]
In December 1985, the remaining forces of the 88th Division were dispatched to the Gilan-e Gharb and, by January 1987, were stationed in Sumar, where they assumed defensive responsibility for both Sumar and the area of Naft Shahr. The division also played a role in Operation Karbala 6.[7]
The division experienced a tragic event in 1986. On November 2, a C-130 military transport plane en route from Kermanshah to Zahedan tragically crashed into a mountain near its destination due to a technical malfunction. All 91 personnel aboard, including the forces of the 88th Armored Division returning from frontline service, were martyred.[8]
In the final days of the war, on July 22, 1988, Iraqi forces launched a massive assault in Sumar, to which the 88th Division responded.[9] It managed to stop the enemy troops near the Chehel-Zari area, known as Tang-e Sheytan, forcing them to retreat.[10]
During the Iran–Iraq War, the 88th Armored Division lost 2400 soldiers, with 8426 wounded and 2252 taken prisoner.[11]
After the war, the division’s units gradually returned to Sistan and Baluchestan Province by 1998,[12] with some, such as Zahedan 188th Brigade, assuming border security duties in eastern Iran for two years.[13]
As part of the Samen Plan (aimed at turning the brigades into independent units) in 2011, the division’s brigades became autonomous. Nowadays, they operate as Zahedan 188th Armored Brigade, Khash 288th Armored Brigade, and Iranshahr 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade. However, they still operate under the 88th Division Headquarters’ command.[14]
From 1980 to the end of the war in 1988, the division was commanded by Colonel Masoud Monfared Niyaki, Colonel Gholam-Reza Qaseemi-Nou, Colonel Hussain-Ali Ettehadieh, Colonel Iraj Hemmati, Colonel Muhammad-Safar Zamanfar, Colonel Muhammad Jaberipour, and Brigadier General Hussain Shamsnia.[15] Today, Brigadier General Mahdi Ahmadi Afshar serves as the division’s commander.[16]
[1] Zargar, Gholam-Hussain, Defa Muqaddas va Artesh dar Ostane Sistan va Balouchestan (Sacred Defense and the Army in Sistan and Balouchestan Province), Tehran, Iran Sabz, 1398, p. 9.
[2] Ibid., Pp. 10–11.
[3] Ibid., p. 11.
[4] Ibid., p. 14.
[5] Ibid., p. 13.
[6] Ibid., p. 13.
[7] Ibid., p. 14.
[8] Moassese Farandish, Rooidadhaye Sale 1365 (Events of the Year 1986), Tehran, Entesharate Farandish, 1366, p. 164.
[9] Zargar, Gholam-Hussain, Ibid., p. 16.
[10] Ibid., p. 16.
[11] Ibid., Pp. 196–197.
[12] Ibid., p. 68.
[13] Hussain-Ahmadi, Ali, Afand va Padafand-e Qate ba Tank (Decisive Attack and Defense with Tanks), Mahname Saf, No. 430, Esfand 1395, p. 41.
[14] Zargar, Gholam-Hussain, Ibid., p. 38; Hussain-Ahmadi, Ali, Ibid., p. 41; Hussain-Ahmadi, Ali, Paydar va Qodratmand dar Noqteye Marzi-ye Keshvar (Stable and Strong at the Borderline of the Country), Mahname Saf, No. 431, Farvardin & Ordibehesht 1396, Pp. 47–48.
[15] Zargar, Gholamhosein, Ibid., p. 17.
[16] Farmande-ye Jadide Qarargah-e Amaliyati-ye Lashkar-e 88 Zerehiye Sistan va Balouchestan Moarrefi Shod (New Commander of the 88th Armored Division Operational Headquarters in Sistan and Balouchestan Appointed), Fars News Agency, 28 Shahrivar 1398, www.farsnews.ir/sistan-baluchestan/news/13980628000125
