Operation Dezful

Operation Dezful
Part of Iran–Iraq War
Dezful class=notpageimage| Location of the city of Dezful, Iran
Date October 15, 1980 Location Dezful, southwest Iran Result Iraqi victory Although Iranian counter-attack is defeated it succeeds in halting elements of the Iraqi advance causing the Iraqis to reconsider their plan Iraqis scout the surroundings but refrain from entering and occupying the weakly defended city Iraqis choose to remain entrenched in more easily defensible positions on the west bank of Dez river from where they maintain the siege of Dezful
Belligerents
Iraq	Iran
Commanders and leaders
Strength
	3,000–4,000 infantry [1] 100 tanks[2]
Casualties and losses
Light	400 KIA 136 combat vehicles 84 tanks destroyed[3]

Operation Dezful was fought in early stage of the Iran–Iraq War on 15 October 1980 as Iranian tank brigades from the 16th Qazvin, 77th Khorasan, and 92nd Khuzestan armoured divisions attacked Iraqi positions. The Iranian Army's aim was to stop Iraqis progress in Iranian territories and to push them back. However, Iraqi forces counterattacked from the flanks, and repulsed the Iranian forces. The Iranian failure was blamed on poor decision making, the purge of army commanders due to their participation in Nojeh coup plot, and underestimating fire power of Iraqi forces and they were forced to retreat to the eastern shores of Dez River west of Dezful.^[4][5]