As a reminder, we talked about the first operation launched by the Islamic Republic outside the borders. Dubbed as Ramadan this operation was launched after the liberation of Khorramshahr.

The liberation of Khorramshahr totally changed political and military equations in favor of the Islamic Republic so much so that it was famous as an opportunity to end the imposed war. In the previous program, we discussed in detail how neither the regime of Saddam nor its supporters sought a just peace in which the punishment of the aggressor would be included. In fact, the liberation of Khorramshahr faced the west with the growing victories of the Islamic Revolution. That's why the media referred to it as one of the greatest victories of Iran in the war. The victory of the Iranian nation was so spectacular that even Saddam's main supporter, the US, said that Iran's decisive victory would open Tehran's hands to create what it called "instability in the moderate countries of the Persian Gulf."

Such analyses clarified that Iran's victories in the battlefield and its broad influence were not within the framework of predictions of Saddam’s supporters in the western and eastern blocs and their regional allies.

The west inevitably based its strategy on maintaining Saddam's power in order to tackle the problems ahead. Thus, scared of Iran's successive victories and the risk of the collapse and disintegration of puppet regimes in the region, political pressures and global propaganda on the Islamic Republic and equipping Iraq with state-of-the-art weapons were put on the agenda. In other words, what the west desired in the new situation was to deter Iran's all-out attacks, and, consequently, through the policy of war of attrition, stop Iran's military forces behind the Iraqi defense walls. Thus, Iraq made a thorough retreat in a bid to set the stage for adopting a method of absolute defense on the ground and an invasion on the political and propaganda front under the guise of seeking peace.

Iraq's military inability to confront the broad and even limited offences of Iranian combatants forced the Iraqi army to ensconce in the defensive shelter. Doing so, Iraq in fact concealed its weaknesses and inefficacy. Crossing the international borders after defeating the invading enemy was quite justifiable in terms of religion, for; the Ba'athist regime understood nothing except the language of force otherwise it intended to engage Iran in the war of attrition to compensate for its humiliating defeats. On the other hand, the so-called International Community, comprised of the Great Satan (the US), Britain, France with the petrodollars of a handful of Arab reactionary regimes, as poodles of the US in the region, would never allow a just peace permeate in the region. The need to maintain and expand the initiative and to have an aggressive spirit in order to restore Islamic Republic rights was a condition that allowed the continuation of the war and entry into Iraq.

The Ramadan Operation was designed to provide a fit political situation for the Islamic Republic, to settle the Iranian combatants behind the rivers Tigris and Arvand and enable them to dominate the roads around Basra. After the operations Fat'h al-Mubin and Bayt al-Moqaddas, especially the liberation of Khorramshahr, circumstances were fit for the Islamic Republic to the extent that Saddam's global and regional supporters had to accept either major political changes in Iraq, or continue the war from a stronger stance.

Although the Islamic Republic of Iran didn't achieve all the goals of the Ramadan Operation, the operation was of great importance. What made this operation significant, besides the vast damages inflicted on the enemy, was the entrance into the Iraqi soil. In fact, it was a counterattack against the political-propaganda pressures of Saddam's supporters and accomplices in the world and the region. In addition, Ramadan Operation signaled to the bullies in the world that the Islamic Republic was determined to pursue its legitimate demands after passing the stage of expelling the aggressor from its occupied lands.

The Ramadan Operation was beyond the potentials of the Islamic Republic and should be seen as an experience in military terms. During this operation, the enemy with multi-purpose defensive lines showed that it was informed of the tactics of the Iranian forces. Thus, the enemy took appropriate measures and increased its ability to confront the Iranian forces. Therefore, it was clear that without the use of new tactics and initiatives against the Ba'athist enemy, and without a comprehensive planning the war would face many difficulties and obstacles.

Moreover, there were other achievements in Ramadan Operation that, the continuation of war would be impossible if they were ignored. The enemy was trying to use armored forces and artillery fire to restrain and destroy any extensive or limited operation in open plains. Another achievement of the Ramadan Operation was that it was not possible to continue the war with reliance on the tactics of Fat'h al-Mubin and Bayt ul-Moqaddas. Special tactics had to be adopted because the enemy had to a great extent changed its tactics and defensive strategy. Based on the experiences of Ramadan Operation, the Islamic Republic had to be well-prepared to continue the war. The need for development of combat ability and preparation to obtain definite outcomes required adequate time and opportunity. Furthermore, any halting of action and lack of proper usage of time translated into submission to the enemy's pressure. Therefore, the limited operation was taken as a measure in a specified timetable to achieve the required activity on the fronts. It was aimed at providing sufficient time for units to remobilize and equip themselves with weapons and highly trained military personnel while continuing operations on a limited level.

FK/RM/ME