Order of battle during the Iran–Iraq War

These are the orders of battle of the Iraqi and Iranian armies for the start of the Iran–Iraq War in 1980. The data is drawn from the Air Combat Information Group's Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf Database.

Iraq

Iraqi Army
See also: Iraqi Army

1st Corps (Iraq), sector between Rawanduz and Marivan:

Malovany (map p112) shows the 11th Infantry Division with elements north of the Rawanduz - Rayat road; the 7th Infantry Division advancing from its bases at Sulaimaniyah towards the border between Penjwin and Sayid Sadiq; and corps headquarters at Kirkuk.

2nd Army Corps (sector between Qasre-e-Shirin, Ilam, and Mehran, armor deployed between Mehran and Dezful)

3rd Army Corps (HQ Qurnah, Iraq) (Sector between Dezful and Abadan)

  • 3rd Armored Division (HQ Tikrit, Iraq) 300 (T-62) (BMP-1)(Malovany: east of Basra)
  • ?10th Armored Division (HQ Baghdad, Iraq) 300 (T-62) (BMP-1)
  • 12th Armored Division (HQ Dohuk, Iraq) (Held in Reserve) 300 (T-62) (BMP-1)
  • 1st Mechanized Division (HQ Divaniyah, Iraq) 200 (T-55) (Czech OT-64 APC/BTR-50 APC)
  • 5th Mechanized Division (HQ Basrah, Iraq) 200 (T-55) (Czech OT-64 APC/BTR-50 APC)(Malovany: east of Basra)
  • 31st Independent Special Forces Brigade (-) (2 battalions) (one was attached to 5th MD, another to 3rd AD),
  • 33rd Independent Special Forces Brigade
  • 10th Independent Armored Brigade (T-72) (BMP-1)
  • 12th Independent Armored Brigade (T-62) (BMP-1)
  • 113th Infantry Brigade (Detachments) (From 11th Infantry Division)

Other forces

Sudan sent seven infantry brigades (53,000 men) to help Iraq against Iran.[1] In addition, 20,000 Arab volunteers fought in the Iraqi army[1] from five different countries, such as Egypt, Jordan,[2][3][4] Morocco, North Yemen[5] and Tunisia.

Iran

Iranian Army
See also: Islamic Republic of Iran Army

Units Garrisoned along the Iraqi Border

  • 16th Armored Division (Qazvin), Iran) (M60A1, Chieftain Mk3/5, M113)
  • 81st Armored Division (Kermanshah, Iran) (M60A1) (M113)
  • 92nd Armored Division (Khuzestan, Iran) (M60A1, Chieftain Mk3/5) (M113)
  • 21st Infantry Division (Tehran, Iran)
  • 28th Infantry Division (Sanandaj, Saquez, and Marivan, Iran) (1 Armored Brigade) (M60A1) (M113)
  • 64th Infantry Division (Orumiyeh, Iran)
  • 77th Infantry Division (Khorasan, Iran) (1 Armored Brigade) (M48A5 MBT) (BTR-50)
  • 37th Armored Brigade (Shiraz, Iran) (M4 Sherman, M36 Jackson) (M8 Greyhound)
  • 88th Armored Brigade (Zahedan (M47 MBT) (covering the borders to Afghanistan and Pakistan)
  • 30th Infantry Brigade (Gorgan, Iran)
  • 84th Infantry Brigade (Khoramabad, Iran) (Deployed in Field) (Connecting the positions of the 81st and 92nd AD)
  • 23rd Airborne Special Forces Brigade (Tehran, Iran) (Deployed along the Iraqi border in 13 separate Detachments)
  • 55th Airborne Brigade (Shiraz, Iran) (One battalion deployed in Sardasht, and a company each in Sanandaj and Dezful, Iran)
  • 58th Takavar Division (Shahroud)
  • 11th Independent Artillery Group
  • 22nd Independent Artillery Group (Khuzestan, Iran)
  • 33rd Independent Artillery Group
  • 44th Independent Artillery Group
  • 55th Independent Artillery Group (Khuzestan, Iran)
  • 411th Engineering Group of Borujerd

Iranian Navy

Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran)

Ground Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Other forces

Iran was supported by the Iraqi Shia rebels and Lebanese Hezbollah.[6] Shia volunteer fighters have arrived to help Iran from Afghanistan,[7][8] Pakistan,[9] India, Kuwait, Bahrain[10] and Iraq.[11]

Notes
    1. Middleton, Drew (October 4, 1982). "SUDANESE BRIGADES COULD PROVIDE KEY AID FOR IRAQ; Military Analysis" – via NYTimes.com.
    2. "Jordan's call for volunteers to fight Iran misfires (The Christian Science Monitor)". The Christian Science Monitor. 11 February 1982. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
    3. Schenker, David Kenneth (2003). Dancing with Saddam: The Strategic Tango of Jordanian-Iraqi Relations (PDF). The Washington Institute for Near East Policy / Lexington Books. ISBN 0-7391-0649-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2017.
    4. "Jordanian Unit Going To Aid Iraq 6 Hussein Will Join Volunteer Force Fighting Iranians (The Washington Post)". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
    5. Dictionary of modern Arab history, Kegan Paul International 1998. ISBN 978-0710305053 p. 196.
    6. Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli (11 February 2009). "The Iranian Roots of Hizbullah". MEMRI. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009.
    7. "Memoires of Afghan volunteers in Iran-Iraq war published (tehrantimes.com)". 7 October 2018.
    8. ""Mohsen, the Japanese" chronicles life of Afghan volunteer fighter in Iran-Iraq war (tehrantimes.com)". 16 December 2020.
    9. Williamson Murray, Kevin M. Woods (2014): The Iran–Iraq War. A Military and Strategic history. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-06229-0 p. 223
    10. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Project Muse)
    11. IRAN’S SHIA DIPLOMACY: RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AND FOREIGN POLICY IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC

    Sources

    Further reading
    • Pesach Malovany, "Wars of Modern Babylon", University Press of Kentucky, June 2017, ISBN 0813169437 / ISBN 978-0813169439.
    • E R Hooton, Tom Cooper, Farzin Nadimi, The Iran-Iraq War Volume 1: The Battle for Khuzestan September 1980-May 1982, Middle East@War #23, October 2019 Revised & Expanded Edition, ISBN 9781913118525. It's precise down the number of heavy vehicles (tanks etc.) per brigade as of September 1980.
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