In the previous program, we talked about the second great operation on the wetland named Badr. Badr operation lasted for 8 days and after stiff fight and resistance, it ended in the liberation of villages of Toraba, Lahuk, Nahrawan, Fajra and also the control of over 800 square kilometers of wetlands and seizure of the 13-kilometer-long Khandaq road. The road was nearly 6 kilometers from Amara- Basra road.

In Badr operation, 7 brigades and 5 division of the Iraqi army were destroyed about 20% to 100%. In addition, the Presidential Guards and the 3rd Commando Force were damaged almost 20%. The number of dead and injured of the Ba'athist army exceeded 15,000, while 3200 forces were captured, among them 50 officers, 80 soldiers and 300 officers. Meanwhile, 250 personnel carriers, 40 of cannons of various types fell in the hand of Iranian forces. Like Kheibar operation, Badr operation did not achieve all of the pre-planned goals. In the meantime, the two operations were considered as a turning point in the 8-year holy defense of the Iranian people against the invasion of the Ba'athist regime of Saddam. Kheibar and Badr operations were the source of major changes in Iran's military measures. The emergence of Iran's military prowess against the Ba'athist army, which had gone through major changes through the full support of foreign experts and assistance, tilted the balance of war to the favor of Iran. In other words, the initiative of the IRGC in Hur ul-Hoveizeh region and pursuit of a new warfare against the Ba'athist army compensated the shortage of arms and equipment on the Iranian side and increased the morale of the Iranian combatants.

Iran's initiative in Kheibar operation and then in Badr operation in the region seriously worried the US, the European regimes and Arab regimes in the region. As a matter of fact, Kheibar operation broke the stalemate on the battlefronts and forced Iraq to think of a new option to prevent Iran's success. This in turn, led to a revision of the US policies and the more direct intervention in the war against the Islamic republic in a bid to only delay Saddam's collapse. This juncture of the war can be considered as a new initiative in the battle whose impacts appeared in various forms in the next operations.

Kheibar and Badr operations showed that the Islamic Republic, despite shortage of arms and equipment and existence of myriads of obstacles, had the capability of victory and learning lessons from the past operations. Kheibar and Badr operations seriously shook Saddam's regime and showed the West that it was not just political, economic, arms and technological support that could keep Iraq safe and secure. The Badr operation, in spite of the losses and casualties inflicted on the Ba'athist enemy, enjoyed a special status in promotion and growing of intellectual and practical dimensions of Iran's combat organization bearing the fruits such as the liberation of the strategic port city of Faw.

Thus, combat organization went through major development so that carrying out special training and maintaining of equipment and weapons for amphibian operations were put on the agenda. Launching of amphibian operations shaped opened a new chapter in the next operations. Boats and divers were a new phenomenon that entered the battlefield to bring the enemy to its knees in several operations. Thus, in the turbulent rivers of Khuzestan province and the waters of the Persian Gulf these brave divers caused serious problems for the enemy. In view of this, the ground was prepared for attacking and surrounding the enemy's positions.

After Badr operation, Iraq again realized that, despite the measures made in the battle and the illusion that it could contain Iran, it had to face the reality that the Iranian combatants had adopted new ways of warfare in water. The Ba'athist enemy understood that the Islamic Republic's initiatives were endless. Hence, Iraq further developed its combat organization. As a matter of fact, adding the vast area of Hur ul-Hovaizeh to the defense lines by Iran, the Iraqi army was unable to confront Iranians in the sensitive positions on wetland; thus it formed a new corps and assigned it with fighting in Hur ul-Hovaizeh region.

In addition, the Iraqi army began a great deal of activity to form a defensive position and create barriers and fortifications on the wetland, which required a considerable power due to the vastness of the region. Finally, Ba'athist commanders reviewed their defensive positions, so that no strategic neglect would bring superiority to Iran. After Badr operation, Saddam's regime tried to open up new fronts in the Persian Gulf and intensify attacks on oil reserves and tankers. It also increased aerial raids on cities, to drag Iran to the negotiating table and accept the imposed peace without gaining the minimum political and economic rights. It can be said that Iraq's effort to bring a third party to the scene of battle and internationalize the war started in this period of the war.

In reaction to the Iraqi air strikes on Iranian cities and the capital city of Tehran, the Islamic Republic, for the first time, shot Scud-B missiles on Kirkuk of Iraq on March 11, 1985. The missile hit a large hall of cement factory of Kirkuk. Imam Khomeini issued the permission to the commanders to attack economic centers in Baghdad on March 12, 1985 and in a message to Soviet leaders criticized them for giving missile facilities to Iraq. Iraqi attack on the Iranian residential areas were broadened to the extent that the UN, without naming the aggressor and the culprit, requested ceasefire on both parties. Iran accepted the request immediately. With the continuation of the Ba'athist regime's attacks on Tehran, the second missile attack was launched on Baghdad on March 14, 1985. The missile targeted the 13-storey central building of Rafedain bank on Ar-Rashid Street in the center of Baghdad just one kilometer away from Iraq's defence ministry. After the attack, Iran called on Saddam's regime to stop air raids on cities not to force Iran use its missiles against Iraqi cities.

RM/SS