Operation Dawn 6

Overview

Operation Dawn 6 was a military operation conducted by the forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the armed forces of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. It lasted from 22 to 24 February 1984 and, along with Operation Dawn 5, it was part of a larger strategic operation to secure part of the Baghdad–Basra highway, thus cutting two of Iraq's most important cities from each other, and threatening the network supplying the Iraqi military on the front line. Operation Before the Dawn succeeded in capturing some high ground 15 miles from the highway, and Operation Dawn 6 was designed to exploit the Iranians' capture with a breakthrough towards the highway. However, the operation met an Iraqi defence which stood up to every attack, and the Iranians called off the attack after only two days. This led to Operation Kheibar, the re-focus of the Iranian offensive towards Basra directly.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

Operation Dawn 6 was a two-day Iranian offensive in February 1984, part of a coordinated effort alongside Operation Dawn 5 to sever the Baghdad–Basra highway and isolate Iraq's two largest cities from each other, threatening the supply network sustaining Iraqi frontline forces. The operation was designed to exploit gains made by Operation Before the Dawn, which had captured high ground roughly 15 miles from the highway, by pushing through toward that objective. Iraqi defenses held against every Iranian assault, and Iran withdrew after only two days. The failure to reach the highway foreclosed the broader strategic aim of strangling Iraqi military logistics along that corridor. It also redirected Iranian operational planning: the setback led directly to Operation Kheibar, which reoriented the offensive axis toward Basra rather than the highway itself, marking a significant shift in Iran's approach during this phase of the war.

Tactics

Forces & casualties