Table Of ContentIn the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
The Triumph or Failure
of the Islamic Revolution of Iran:
THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION
AND
THE IMPOSED WAR
Written by
Martyr Mustafa Chamran
Commander of the Non-Organized Forces
and
Imam Khomeini’s Representative
to the
Supreme Defense Council
Council for the Celebrations
of the Third Anniversary
of the Victory of the Islamic Revolution
Compiled, Translated and Edited by
The Ministry of Islamic Guidance
Published by the Council for the Celebrations
of the Third Anniversary
of the Victory of the Islamic Revolution
Tehran, 1982
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
The Triumph or Failure
of the Islamic Revolution of Iran:
Its Impacts on the Region,
Islamic Countries and the World
The triumph of the Islamic Revolution of Iran with its
new criteria shook the unsteady foundations of regional
reactionary and subservient governments which joined each
other and put their efforts into suppressing the Iranian
Revolution and to prevent its expansion.
The U.S.A., too, lost its greatest stronghold in the region.
All its local oil interests and other valuable resources. It
could, therefore, by no means, tolerate the continuation of
such a Revolution, especially when it realized that its oil
interests were thus endangered in other countries in the region
as well, and that the Iranian Revolution was going to spread
to neighboring countries to eradicate colonialism and foreign
exploitation in those lands.
International Zionism also, having lost its greatest friend
and base in the region was now faced with a new powerful,
revolutionary and intrepid foe, and therefore it could not
remain silent.
Thus, conspiracies were initiated to crush the Islamic
Revolution of Iran ranging from creating domestic
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Martyr Mustafa Chamran
difficulties and problems to direct military action of the U.S.
in Tabas which, through a miracle, failed.
The imperialists dealt numerous blows to the Iranian
Revolution: They conspired in different frontier areas; in
government offices, in the army; they caused conflicts under
the guise of radical leftist organizations or cliques connected
with the satanic, despotic ex-regime as symbolized by the ex-
Shah, under the guise of different nationalities and religions,
they fermented strikes in factories to undermine the national
industry; they brought about chaos in the area of agriculture
to stop agricultural production; they launched an economic
blockade, vicious propaganda, and calamities; they spread
false rumors, lies, and so on. These were some manifestations
of the enemy’s all-round and coordinated conspiracy against
the Islamic Revolution of Iran, all directed to isolate this
country in the world.
Finally, as a quietus, Iraq, imagining that the new regime
in Iran was at the point of downfall, launched an all-out attack
on Iran. At 2 P.M. on September 22, 1980, Iraqi aircrafts
bombed Tehran airport and airports in most other cities.
Twelve Iraqi divisions, which had long been kept in a state of
combat-preparedness beyond the frontier started their all-out
invasion along the 800 km. border from the north of Qasr-i-
Shirin to Khorramshahr and Abadan. While the Iranian Army
was occupied with internal difficulties, some people chanted
slogans for its dissolution, others gave vent to the grudges
accumulated against the army during the past decades, and
still others tried to slaughter the army like sacrificial sheep.
Perplexed, dumbfounded, and overwhelmed by their
inferiority complex, the military had totally lost their human
and military personality. The officers were unable to
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The Islamic Revolution and the Imposed War
command and the subalterns did not obey the commanders.
Strikes, confusion, confrontation and demonstrations were
rife inside our armed forces. The enemy’s fifth column,
giving out vehement and seditious slogans and exciting the
crude feelings within the military personnel, practically
eliminated military discipline and prevented any constructive
military measures.
The U.S.-imposed economic blockade had caused a
shortage of spare parts for military hardware. The dismissal
of foreign military specialists together with the reigning
disarray had actually caused a total standstill everywhere.
Whatever had remained of our military forces had already
been worn out in local battles and engagements in Kurdistan,
Gombad-i-Qabus and Khorramshahr. Consequently, at the
onset of the enemy’s invasion, only two divisions - Ahvaz
92nd Division and Kermanshah Division - showed some
signs of life. These were incompletely organized, poorly
equipped, demoralized and totally lacking combat-
preparedness. That is why the enemy, supported by twelve
panzer divisions, advanced rapidly, soon reaching the
approaches of the large cities of Abadan, Ahvaz and Dezful.
The enemy’s largescale invasion of Khuzistan was launched
after a diversionary attack in the Qasr-i-Shirin area.
On the basis of his estimation of the military forces of
Iraq and Iran, and prompted by western calculations, Saddam
imagined that he could topple the Islamic regime of Iran in
three days and that by winning this war, he could compensate
for the moral consequences of the Arabs defeat in their wars
against Israel and that as the victor - the victor of a new
Qadissiyya - he could assume the leadership of the Arab
world - an ambition which has been consuming him for years.
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Martyr Mustafa Chamran
Well, Saddam’s forces, pounding at the weakened forces
of the Iranian Islamic Army, drew on fast until they
approached the large cities. At this point, people entered the
arena, blocking the enemy’s advance and performing brilliant
feats of arms. The heroic people of Khorramshahr sacrificing
their children and dealing the hardest blows to the enemy,
achieved such glorious deeds of self-sacrifice, courage and
martyrdom that Khorramshahr came to be known as ‘the city
of blood and resistance” thus immortalizing itself in history
with a legend of heroic, popular resistance and love for the
Iranian Islamic Revolution. In other areas, too, wherever Iraqi
forces met with masses of people in the cities, their advance
came to a standstill, so that finally the offensive enemy took
on a defensive position. The course of the war changed, and
Saddam’s schemes for capturing strategic points in Iran and
for overthrowing the Iranian Islamic regime were thwarted.
During the first days of the invasion, enemy forces
enjoyed the best situation whereas ours were in the worst and
weakest, of conditions. The enemy force was approximately
twenty times as much as ours; especially as to equipment and
ammunition. There was no balance between the two warring
parties. The enemy could but capture deserts, deserted areas,
some portions of the uninhabited frontier regions and some
unimportant small towns.
After people had engaged in battle, thus preventing
further enemy advance, the army was gradually able to equip
and organize itself, to repair its tanks and armored personnel-
carriers, to bring these to the battle scenes and to, little by
little, solve its internal problems. In the course of time, the
army brought the initial 20 to 1 ratio of forces to a new 3 to 1
ratio. Since, according to world military laws, offensive
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