Operation Morvarid

Battle context

Operation Morvarid was a coordinated Iranian naval and air force strike launched in November 1980 against Iraqi Navy positions in the early months of the Iran–Iraq War. The operation was a direct response to Iraq's deployment of radar and monitoring equipment on the Mina Al-Bakr and Khor-al-Amaya oil rigs, infrastructure Iraq had repurposed to track and counter Iranian air operations. The operation resulted in an Iranian victory: both oil rigs were destroyed, much of the Iraqi Navy was eliminated, and significant damage was inflicted on Iraqi ports and airfields. By neutralizing the Iraqi naval surveillance network at these installations and degrading Iraqi naval strength, Iran removed a key layer of Iraqi situational awareness over its air approaches and asserted dominance in the maritime dimension of the early conflict. Iraqi naval casualties reached 321, reflecting the scale of the damage inflicted on Iraq's naval forces during the operation.