Mud, Blood and Steel: The Battle of Hoveyzeh, January 1981

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Mud, Blood and Steel: The Battle of Hoveyzeh, January 1981. By the end of 1980 Iraq’s invasion of Iran had degenerated into bloody stalemate all along the front. Iran was able to mobilize over two hundred thousand newly recruited citizen-soldiers into their Pasdaran, and both sides rushed additional regular army troops and equipment to the front lines. The Iranian military high command wanted to await the end of the winter rains to launch an offensive in the Spring that would drive the Iraqi’s out of Islamic Republic. However, the Iranian clergy, that headed the government, did not trust the lay and military leaders, many of whom the clergy suspected of harboring pro-Shah or anti-fundamentalist adherents, and ordered a more limited but immediate offensive in early January. Dubbed Operation Nasr (Victory), the offensive at Hoveyzeh sought to break through and drive back the Iraqi units that threatened the crucial city of Ahwaz.