Liberation of Khorramshahr

Day of Resistance and Victory

(3 Khordad 1361/ 24 May1982)

Late Imam,

Ayatollah Khomeini, stated his famous quote:

"God freed Khorramshahr".

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei:

"Liberation of the major city of Khorramshahr was like a miracle."

Khorramshahr is a port city in the Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran. It is approximately ten kilometers north ofAbadan. The city extends to the right bank of theArvand River near its confluent with the Karun River at the junction of the Karun and Shatt al Arab rivers, on the border between Iran and Iraq.

From the beginning of the 20th century until 1980, the city was the main commercial port of Iran which is called Bandar-e-Khorramshahr. A port has existed on the site at least since the time Alexander the Great invaded Iran in 331 BC. From about 300 BC to AD 1200, the city derived considerable prosperity from trade. In ancient times it had been known as Piyan, and later Bayan. After falling under control of the Abbasid dynasty in AD 750, the city was given the name Mohammerah and was known by this name until the 1920s. Khorramshahr"s importance in the 20th century stemmed from its nearness to Abadan, which is situated on a nearby river island and was home to the world"s largest oil refinery at one time. Oil was discovered inIran in 1908, after which Abadan and Khorramshahr grew rapidly. By the 1930s the two cities were connected to Tehran by air, rail, and road routes. Khorramshahr was captured by Iraq during the opening weeks of the

Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), and occupied until 1982. The city was devastated during the fighting, as wasAbadan. Reconstruction of Khorramshahr began in 1989, with the port being reopened for ship traffic in 1992. The city"s population was 146,709 in 1976; virtually the entire population fled in 1980 and 1981. After the withdrawal of Iraqi troops, Iranians began returning to Khorramshahr.

Khorramshahr during the Iran-Iraq War

During the Iran-Iraq War it was extensively ravaged by Iraqi forces as a result of Saddam Hussein"s scorched earth policy. By the end of the war, Khorramshahr had been completely decimated by Saddam Hussein"s forces, with very few buildings left intact. Other major urban centers such as Abadan and Ahvaz were also left in ruins, though nowhere nearly as bad as Khorramshahr. The city of Khorramshahr was one of the primary and most important frontlines of the war and has thus achieved mythic status amongst the Iranian population.

Khorramshahr was also the site of a famous incident during the war in which Saddam Hussein found himself stranded in the middle of the city, surrounded by Iranian forces. The Iraqi forces were unable to rescue him and they had thought his fate was sealed. However, Saddam was not killed, nor was he captured by Iranian forces, and somehow fought his way out of Khorramshahr and crossed over back into Iraq, barely surviving. The incident added to his mythic status amongst Iraqis and was used extensively in anti-Iranian wartime propaganda.

In the 3rd year of war,

"Beytol Moqaddas Operations", (on Khordad 3rd 1361), resulted in the liberation of the important and strategic port of Khorramshahr from the clutches of Iraqi aggressive forces.

Iranians celebrate this occasion annually from then.

The economy of Khorramshahr is still largely affected by the destruction and depopulation of the city"s residents in the 1980"s during the first years of the Iraqi-imposed war onIran. The main activities are, however, essentially the same as before the war, petroleum production and exports and imports through the city port, though on a much smaller scale as restoration is not yet totally complete, even though over seventeen years have past since the end of the war. Residents originally from Khorramshahr have also slowly been returning to the city, rebuilding their houses and businesses.