Operation Dawn 6

Battle context

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.