The Iran-Iraq War: Volume 2, Iran Strikes Back, June 1982-December 1986: 6 (Middle East@War) - Softcover

Hooton, E.R.; Cooper, Tom; Nadimi, Farzin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1913118533 ISBN 13: 9781913118532

Publisher: Helion and Company, 2019

Synopsis

Volume 2 takes up the account after Iraq withdrew from Khuzestan and is based upon material from both sides, from US Intelligence data, British Government documents and secret Iraqi files. Iraq’s withdrawal exposed the great southern city of Basra to Iranian attack but it was shielded by fortifications based upon a huge anti-tank ditch, the so-called Fish Lake, which the Iranians tried to storm in the summer of 1982. This bloody failure left Tehran in a position where prestige prevented a withdrawal into Iran but the armed forces lacked the resources to bring the conflict to a favourable conclusion. During the next four years the Iranians tried to outflank the Fish Lake defences initially through the marshes in the north and finally through an attack on the Fao Peninsula which increased national prestige but was a strategic failure and paved the way for Iraq’s massive victories in 1988. This followed a series of successful defensive battles in which the Iranians were driven back with great loss. This account describes the battles in greater detail than before and, by examining them, provides unique insights and ends many of the myths which are repeated in many other accounts of this conflict.

About this title

About the Author

E.R. Hooton is a successful retired defence journalist, including acting as a Jane’s Yearbook editor. He is the author of more than a dozen military history books ranging from the Balkans Wars 1912-13, air operations over the Western Front 1916-18, the breaking of the Hindenburg Line 1918, the Red Army 1937-41, air operations 1939-45 and the Communist Chinese victory of 1945-51.

Tom Cooper is an Austrian aerial warfare analyst and historian. Following a career in the worldwide transportation business – during which he established a network of contacts in the Middle East and Africa – he moved into narrow-focus analysis and writing on small, little-known air forces and conflicts, about which he has collected extensive archives. This has resulted in specialisation in such Middle Eastern air forces as of those of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, plus various African and Asian air forces. As well as authoring and co-authoring more than 50 books - including an in-depth analysis of major Arab air forces at wars with Israel in period 1955-1973 - and over 1000 articles, Cooper is editor of Helion's five @War series.

Farzin Nadimi is a writer and researcher of Middle Eastern and Persian Gulf defense and security affairs, with a focus on Iran-Iraq War military history, energy security and geopolitics, economic warfare, and oil and gas industries. He has a Master's degree in War Studies from King's College London and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Manchester. He lives in Washington, DC and is currently working at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Helion and Company
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1913118533
• ISBN 13: 9781913118532
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112