One year after Kheibar operation in early 1984, another major operation called Badr was launched in Hur ol-Azim region. In that year, another small-scale operation was underway to keep the Ba'athist army at bay and get prepared for the great Badr operation. One of the operations in Meimak region was called Ashura. Meimak heights had been occupied by the Iraqi army since October 13, 1980.

According to the 1975 Algiers Agreement, the border between Iran and Iraq was determined on the Meimak heights. Then, the joint committees of the two countries negotiated for preparation of necessary documents and laying bars on the borders. These slow-pace talks did not reach a decisive result until the victory of the Islamic Revolution. Meanwhile, as the Iraqi regime was not willing to accept the determined demarcations, was looking for an excuse to abolish the said agreement. Hence, on October 13, 1980 Iraq attacked Meimak and seized it within two days. 4 months later, on January 9, 1981, during the operation "Zarbat Zulfaqar", the Ba'athist enemy was pushed back from Meimak heights, although the north and west of the region were still under occupation. This situation persisted until Ashura operation on October 17, 1984 which liberated the areas on the north and west of Meimak. Destroying part of the enemy's forces, launching of attacks on the enemy in the plain, facilitating south-west movement and vice versa, connecting the fronts of Meimak, liberating some of the adjacent areas, securing Meimak region with capturing of the important heights of the region were among the goals of the Ashura operation in Meimak region. Ashura operation achieved all of the pre-planned goals and inflicted great damage on the infantry and mechanized units of the Ba'athist army. 

As it was said several times, after Kheibar operation, the Iranian commanders looked for operations on the wetland, so that they could secure the victories of Kheibar operation and find further expansion on the wetland. Probing into the pros and cons of our forces and the enemy during Kheibar operation once again encouraged the commanders to design and launch operations on the wetland. Badr operation was, in fact, the continuation of Kheibar operation. The reason for choosing the area for operation was the familiarity of the Iranian forces with the wetland and the eastern region of the River Tigris. Meanwhile, the Ba'athist enemy was on alert in the southern front and was very sensitive towards the operations of Iranian combatants on those fronts. Furthermore, the Iraqi army never imagined that Iran would design and launch another operation in that unfavorable climate. The intelligence gathered from the array of the Ba'athist enemy showed that they were not sensitive toward the area. Therefore, the enemy's capacity and deployment were not notable.

The reason for naming the operation as Badr was that great blows were dealt on the enemy like the fateful battle of Badr in the advent of Islam. The main goal of Badr operation was to cross Hur ol-Azim and seize the eastern banks of the River Tigris and close Amara-Basra highway between Al-Uzair and Al-Qarna.  This had initially been planned in Kheibar operation; but due to the problems and withdrawal of units from eastern Tigris, it was decided to be repeated in Badr operation. The goals of Badr operation were limited in comparison with those of Kheibar operation.

In order to enhance the morale of the Iranian combatants, a number of army and IRGC commanders along with a group of combatants met with the great Leader of the Islamic Revolution and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Imam Khomeini, before launching the operation. The Imam said during the meeting: "When I see you, I get happy. You are the ones who honored Islam and the country, move with the confidence of heart and be sure that the center of power, which is God the Exalted, pays attention to you. The other powers are hollow; the power of God is lasting. God has promised that if you help Him, He will make you victorious, and there is no doubt that now you are helping God the Exalted, the Islamic country and Islam. Do not worry, you are the soldiers of God and you are victorious. They have rockets but do not have faith. You have faith. Your hearts are bonded with the source of light and power, an unbreakable bond. But they do not understand this. "

Badr operation was planned as a major operation by the IRGC and was launched on Monday, March 11, 1985. Badr operation with the codename of Ya Fatima al-Zahra was carried out through three bases under the command of Khatam al-Anbia's headquarters. The IRGC used 67 battalions and the army used 32 battalions in the operation. 5072 engine boats were assigned in various units for the transfer of combat troops. The total duration of the operation was six days. In the first hours of the operation, all the lines and fortifications of the Ba'athist enemy were quickly torn apart. As the Iranian forces penetrated deep into the enemy lines, the observers and experts in the different countries were startled as the solid fortifications did not appear to fall so quickly. Moreover, Saddam's army was very boastful of its power as Iranians couldn't achieve all of their goals in Kheibar operation; thus it never expected another major operation, especially on the wetland. On the last day of the operation, Ashura 31 division crossed the river Tigris and reached the west bank of the river. The Ashura 31 division went to al-Qarnah, and achieved about 70% of its goals. With the martyrdom of the commander of the division, Mehdi Bakeri, the forces that had gone to the west of the River Tigris went to its east due to the lack of fire support and the intensive pressure of the Iraqi army.

Badr operation was finished with heavy casualties that were inflicted on the enemy. Besides, over 500 square kilometers of the wetland region were captured by the Iranian forces including the villages of Toraba, Lahuk, Nahrawan, Fajrah and 13 kilometer Khandaq road in a distance of 6 kilometers from Al-Amara-Basra road. The astounding achievements of Badr operation infuriated the dictatorial regime of Saddam to launch broad attacks on the Iranian cities and villages as well as on Iran's tankers. The Iraqi regime also started air raids against Tehran via bombers and missile attacks. The enemy, in fact, was pursuing the goal of the war of tankers in the Persian Gulf, to cut off Iran's main means of revenues, through assaults on cities in a bid to instigate the people against the system and bring the Islamic Republic to its knees. But the Iranian nation were further enraged at the savage attacks of the Iraqi regime and killing innocent people. Thus, they rushed to the battlefronts to answer the dastardly enemy in war theaters.

FK/RM/ME