Operation Dawn 6

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Operation Dawn 6
Part of Iran–Iraq War
Date 22–24 February 1984 Location Area east of the Basra–Baghdad Highway Result Iraqi victory Minor tactical Iranian success Successful Iraqi defense Territorial changes Territory 5 by 10 miles captured, but not the objective of the Baghdad-Basra highway
Belligerents
Iraq	Iran
Strength
~140,000	500,000
Casualties and losses
Moderate	Heavy

Operation Dawn 6 (Operation Valfajr 6 [عملیات والفجر ۶] in Persian) was a military operation conducted by the forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the armed forces of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. It lasted from 22 to 24 February 1984 and, along with Operation Dawn 5, it was part of a larger strategic operation to secure part of the Baghdad–Basra highway, thus cutting two of Iraq's most important cities from each other, and threatening the network supplying the Iraqi military on the front line. Operation Before the Dawn succeeded in capturing some high ground 15 miles from the highway, and Operation Dawn 6 was designed to exploit the Iranians' capture with a breakthrough towards the highway. However, the operation met an Iraqi defence which stood up to every attack, and the Iranians called off the attack after only two days. This led to Operation Kheibar, the re-focus of the Iranian offensive towards Basra directly.