A report on Iran–Iraq War and Exocet

Top-left to bottom-right: Iranian child soldier on the frontlines Iranian soldier in a trench wearing a gas mask to guard against Iraqi chemical attacks Port quarter view of the USS Stark listing to port after being mistakenly struck by an Iraqi warplane Pro-Iraq MEK forces killed during Iran's Operation Mersad Iraqi prisoners of war after the recapture of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun being used by the Iranian Army
AM39 under a Dassault Rafale
Meeting of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Houari Boumédiène and Saddam Hussein (left to right) during the Algiers Agreement in 1975.
AM39 under a Dassault Rafale
Ruhollah Khomeini rose to power after the Iranian Revolution.
Exocet missile launch
Location of Khuzestan Province in Iran which Iraq planned to annex
Exocet impact
Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr, who was also commander-in-chief, on a Jeep-mounted 106mm recoilless anti-tank gun. Banisadr was impeached in June 1981.
MM38 onboard German Navy Type 143A Nerz
The Shatt al-Arab on the Iran–Iraq border
Sue 204 (Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard) of Argentina's 2nd Navy Squadron, used in the Atlantic Conveyor attack
Destroyed Iranian C-47 Skytrain
Stark listing after being hit
Iranian F-14A Tomcats equipped with AIM-54A, AIM-7 and AIM-9 missiles.
Map with Exocet operators in blue and former operators in red
Resistance of the outnumbered and outgunned Iranians in Khorramshahr slowed the Iraqis for a month.
Iranian president Abulhassan Banisadr on the battlefront
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Massoud Rajavi, the leader of MEK and the National Resistance Council of Iran (NCRI) in 1988.
The surprise attack on H-3 airbase is considered to be one of the most sophisticated air operations of the war.
Iranian soldier holding an IV bag during the Iran–Iraq War
Iranian Northrop F-5 aircraft during Iran-Iraq war
Iraqi T-62 tank wreckage in Khuzestan Province, Iran
Iraqi soldiers surrendering after the Liberation of Khorramshahr
Saddam Hussein in 1982
An admonitory declaration issued from the Iraqi government in order to warn Iranian troops in the Iran–Iraq War. The statement says: "Hey Iranians! No one has been downtrodden in the country where Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib, Husayn ibn Ali and Abbas ibn Ali are buried. Iraq has undoubtedly been an honorable country. All refugees are precious. Anyone who wants to live in exile can choose Iraq freely. We, the Sons of Iraq, have been ambushing foreign aggressors. The enemies who plan to assault Iraq will be disfavoured by God in this world and the hereafter. Be careful of attacking Iraq and Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib! If you surrender, you might be in peace."
95,000 Iranian child soldiers were made casualties during the Iran–Iraq War, mostly between the ages of 16 and 17, with a few younger.
Furthest ground gains
Iranian POWs in 1983 near Tikrit, Iraq
Iranian child soldier
Iraqi POW who was shot by Iranian troops after they conquered the Iraqi Majnoon oil field in October 1984
Iranian troops fire 152 mm D-20 howitzer
Battle of the Marshes Iran front 1983 rest after exchange of fire 152 mm D-20 H
Operation Earnest Will: Tanker convoy No. 12 under US Navy escort (21 October 1987)
A map indicating the attacks on civilian areas of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait targeted during the "War of the Cities".
Iraqi commanders discussing strategy on the battlefront (1986)
Iranian President Ali Khamenei on the battlefront during the Iran–Iraq War
Operation Dawn 8 during which Iran captured the Faw Peninsula.
Iranian soldier killed during the Iran–Iraq War with Rouhollah Khomeini's photo on his uniform
The People's Mujahedin of Iran, supported by Saddam, started a ten-day operation after both the Iranian and Iraqi governments accepted UN Resolution 598. Casualty estimates range from 2,000 to 10,000.
Adnan Khairallah, Iraqi Defense Minister, meeting with Iraqi soldiers during the war
IRGC navy speedboats using swarm tactics
An Iranian soldier wearing a gas mask during the Iran–Iraq War.
The Iranian frigate IS Sahand burns after being hit by 20 U.S. air launched missiles and bombs, killing a third of the crew, April 1988
Iranian soldiers captured during Iraq's 1988 offensives
USS Vincennes in 1987 a year before it shot down Iran Air Flight 655
MEK Soldiers killed in Operation Mersad in 1988
Al-Shaheed Monument in Baghdad was erected to commemorate the fallen Iraqi soldiers during the war.
Iranian Martyr Cemetery in Isfahan
Iranian Martyrs Museum in Tehran
An Iranian soldier's funeral in Mashhad, 2013
An Iraqi Mil Mi-24 on display at the military museum of Sa'dabad Palace in Iran
President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush work in the Oval Office of the White House, 20 July 1984.
USS Stark (FFG-31) listing following two hits by Exocet missiles.
Victims of the 1987 chemical attack on Sardasht, West Azerbaijan, Iran
Damage to a mosque in Khoramshahr, Iran, the city that was invaded by Iraq in September 1980

During the Iran–Iraq War, on 17 May 1987, an Iraqi aircraft identified as a Dassault Mirage F1 fired two Exocet missiles at the American frigate USS Stark (FFG-31).

- Exocet

France sold Iraq millions of dollars worth of weapons, including Gazelle helicopters, Mirage F-1 fighters, and Exocet missiles.

- Iran–Iraq War
Top-left to bottom-right: Iranian child soldier on the frontlines Iranian soldier in a trench wearing a gas mask to guard against Iraqi chemical attacks Port quarter view of the USS Stark listing to port after being mistakenly struck by an Iraqi warplane Pro-Iraq MEK forces killed during Iran's Operation Mersad Iraqi prisoners of war after the recapture of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun being used by the Iranian Army

4 related topics with Alpha

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A Super Étendard at RIAT in 2005.

Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard

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French carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft designed by Dassault-Breguet for service with the French Navy.

French carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft designed by Dassault-Breguet for service with the French Navy.

A Super Étendard at RIAT in 2005.
A Super Étendard at RIAT in 2005.
Underside of a Super Étendard in-flight. The protruding tail hook is towards the rear of the fuselage
During the 1982 Falklands War, the Argentine Super Étendards were used as a launch platform for Exocet anti-ship missiles
A formation of Super Étendards in flight, one of which is refueling another Super Étendard, through "buddy-to-buddy" refueling process.
Launch from Charles de Gaulle
Dassault Super Étendard, Iraqi Air Force, 1983
Argentine Navy's Super Étendard
Orthographically projected diagram of the Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard
DEFA 552 cannons on display

Argentina's use of the Super Étendard and the Exocet missile during the 1982 Falklands War led to the aircraft gaining considerable popular recognition.

The Super Étendard was used by Iraq to attack oil tankers and merchant shipping in the Persian Gulf during the Iraq-Iran War.

A Spanish Air Force Mirage F1M

Dassault Mirage F1

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French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation.

French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation.

A Spanish Air Force Mirage F1M
A Spanish Air Force Mirage F1M
Mirage F1 Escadron de chasse 1/5 Vendée.
Mirage F1C of EC 2/30 Normandie-Niemen at the 1975 Paris Air Show.
A pair of French Air Force Mirage F1Cs from the EC 2/30 and EC 3/30 in flight, 31 May 1986.
A multinational fighter formation, including, left to right, a Qatari F-1 Mirage, a French F-1C Mirage, a U.S. Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon, a Canadian CF/A-18A Hornet and a Qatari Alpha Jet, during Operation Desert Shield
An Ecuadoran Mirage F1JA during the joint US/Ecuadoran exercise "Blue Horizon '86".
A Hellenic Air Force Mirage F1CG
Moroccan Mirage F1CH (2007).
A formation of four Mirage F1CZs, flying over Air Force Base Ysterplaat, circa 1982
A SAAF Mirage F1CZ performing an aerial display at Air Force Base Ysterplaat, Cape Town, circa 1982
Spanish Air Force F1M at Kecskeméti Repülőnap 2010.
A Mirage F1BD, believed to be the only twin-seat aircraft of the type remaining in Libyan service at that time, 2009
Underside view of a SAAF Mirage F1AZ flying overhead, 2002
A Mirage F1B performing a flight display at the 2008 Royal International Air Tattoo
A Spanish Mirage F1CE at RAF Coltishall, England, 1988
A Mirage F1ED of the Libyan Air Force, August 1981
A Jordanian Mirage F1EJ in formation with an American F-16 Fighting Falcon over Iraq, 1996
A formation of four Mirage F1CRs flying over Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris, 2006
A French Air Force Mirage F1CR at the 2009 Royal International Air Tattoo
A Mirage F1AZ at Air Force Base Swartkop, Gauteng, circa 1996
Aerosud Mirage F1
Mirage F1 operators, current (blue) and former (red)
Iranian Air Force Mirage F1BQ
Iraqi Air Force Mirage F1BQ
Jordanian Air Force Dassault Mirage F1EJ
Qatari Air Force Mirage F1EDA
Dassault Mirage F1 3-view drawings
Thomson CSF Cyrano IV radar unit
Assorted 125kg, 250kg, 500kg, and 1000kg bombs besides a Mirage F1

The type has seen action in a large number of armed conflicts involving several of its operators, including the Western Sahara War, the Paquisha War, the Cenepa War, the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War, the South African Border War, the War in Afghanistan, the Chadian–Libyan conflict, the 2011 military intervention in Libya, and the Northern Mali conflict.

During this period, France was a major supplier of military equipment to the nation; in 1983, the former loaned five Super Étendards to Iraq while the latter was awaiting the delivery of the Exocet-capable Mirage F1EQ-5, which wouldn't be available until September 1984.

Iraqi Air Force badge

Iraqi Air Force

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Aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

Aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

Iraqi Air Force badge
Some Iraqi SM.79Bs
An Iraqi Air Force De Havilland Vampire FB.52, before delivery in 1953
USS Stark listing following two hits by Iraqi Exocet missiles
An Iraqi MiG-29 aircraft lies in ruins after it was destroyed by coalition forces during the Persian Gulf War's Operation Desert Storm.
An Iraqi MiG-25 Foxbat found buried under the sand west of Baghdad.
A U.S. Airman conducts post-flight checks on an IQAF C-130 Hercules.
An Iraqi Air Force Commander at an F-16 training session in Arizona.
An Iraqi Air Force T-6A Texan II
Night flying certification for the UH-1 crews of the Iraqi 2nd Squadron
Iraqi Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon flies over an undisclosed location July 18, 2019
An Iraqi Cessna 208 on a training mission
Iraqi C-130 on take off

The air force's peak came after the long Iran–Iraq War, which ended in 1988, when it consisted of 1029 aircraft of all types (of which 550 were combat aircraft), becoming the largest air force in the region.

In 1983, to satisfy the Iraqis waiting for their upgraded Exocet-capable Mirage F1EQ-5s, Super Etendards were leased to Iraq.

Stark listing following two hits by Exocet missiles.

USS Stark (FFG-31)

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The 23rd ship of the of guided-missile frigates and was named after Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark (1880–1972).

The 23rd ship of the of guided-missile frigates and was named after Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark (1880–1972).

Stark listing following two hits by Exocet missiles.
A view of external damage to the port side.

The ship was struck on 17 May 1987 by two Exocet anti-ship missiles during the Iran–Iraq War fired from an Iraqi aircraft officially identified as a Dassault Mirage F1 fighter, The Reagan administration attributed the blame to Iran for its alleged belligerence in the underlying conflict.