Maps and calques were among the key tools for operational planning, battlefield reconnaissance, and coordination of forces during the Sacred Defense.

A map is a precise pictorial and geometric representation that shows part or all of the terrain and its features on a horizontal sheet at various sizes and scales⁠[1]. A calque is also a drawing of an operational map or planning map prepared on semi-transparent paper (calque). An operational calque shows the location and strength of friendly forces, planned movements, and the location of enemy forces⁠[2].

The oldest discovered map dates back to the Mesopotamian region 4,000 years ago. These maps were drawn on a baked clay tablet, one side of which depicts the Babylonian world. The back of the tablet states that this is Babylon and Assyria, surrounded by the Persian Gulf⁠[3]. The first documented maps, however, are attributed to the time of Alexander in the two centuries before Christ⁠[4]. Maps provide the greatest assistance to military operation planners in designing operations and precisely determining objectives, obstacles, flanks, and the final boundary of an operation. In defensive operations as well, canals, trenches, and roads are constructed with reference to maps⁠[5].

According to scale, maps are divided into two categories: strategic and tactical. Strategic maps generally have civilian uses, including commercial, political, and travel purposes. These maps have scales smaller than 1:500,000 and are not highly accurate. In contrast, tactical maps, prepared at various scales and in different types, are used for precise operations such as road construction, military operations, and mineral exploration⁠[6].

The production of military maps in Iran dates back to the beginning of the last solar century. On 25 Aban 1300, a cartography branch was established in the Second Department of the Army Staff. In 1304, following the graduation of students from the Army' s surveying course, this branch began its work in the Second Department of the Army Staff.

In 1313, the Army Geographical Department was established, and in 1347 the National Geographical Organization was established within the Ministry of War.

Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, the activities of the Geographical Organization underwent transformation. During the occupation of the organization by forces of the People' s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MKO/MEK, the “ Monafeqin”) at the beginning of the Revolution, some documents and maps were burned and destroyed, while others were transferred to an unknown location.⁠[7]

With the outbreak of the imposed war, the use of maps and training in map reading and route finding, both by day and by night, became part of the combatants' agenda, and the Cartography and Geography Department was established in the Ministry of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.⁠[8] Maps were prepared on the basis of aerial photographs⁠[9], and in view of deficiencies in the maps and the need to update information, military personnel prepared calques and sketches showing the latest positions of Iranian and enemy forces and changes in natural features.⁠[10]  Operations intelligence units used aerial photographs and observation to record artificial features on enemy terrain, after which newly created artificial enemy features were entered on maps that had already been printed⁠[11], and calques were then prepared from them

Calques were divided into three groups: terrain-feature calques, on which new and artificial features such as roads, embankments, and canals were marked; enemy obstacle and fortification calques, which included enemy positions and trenches and obstacles such as minefields or barbed wire; and enemy-deployment calques, which showed the composition and identity of enemy battalions and their locations. These calques were used to determine routes of penetration into enemy positions during the night of an operation.⁠[12]

Before operations, reconnaissance activities were conducted to prepare calques. For example, before Operation Valfajr 8 (1364), 800 reconnaissance missions were conducted to survey the terrain and design calques. During these missions, the weather, soil type, methods of crossing the Arvand River and its tidal currents, methods of crossing enemy fortifications, the boundaries of Ba' athist defensive positions, and the required communication routes in the Bahmanshir area were examined.⁠[13]

Maps were also of great assistance in the defense of an area. One example during the Sacred Defense was the use of water as an obstacle against enemy attacks in the southern region of the Iran-Iraq border and the design of a route for accumulating water and using it defensively. Precise maps were also helpful to the combatants in this case.⁠[14]

During the imposed war, because there was little time to produce the required maps, a new type of military map emerged, known as “ tactical maps. ” In preparing these maps, natural and artificial features, as well as military features created by friendly or enemy forces— such as roads, embankments, canals, and so forth— were entered on military maps or calque sheets and, after being reproduced and distributed among headquarters and operational and intelligence units, were put to use.⁠[15]

During the Sacred Defense, nautical charts were also used.⁠[16]  The main sources of nautical charts in Iran were British and American⁠[17], which were obtained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and translated into Persian and printed by the Ministry of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.⁠[18]

During the imposed war, the Khuzestan Cartography Headquarters was established in Ahvaz with representatives from 11 ministries. Subsequently, mapping was carried out from Faw to Chazabeh over four years until the end of the imposed war. During this operation, GPS devices were used for the first time; they were more accurate than manual methods. Iran was the fifth country to use these devices.⁠[19]

During the Sacred Defense, narrators were present at headquarters and war command rooms and recorded information about operations from their initial formation to their conclusion. Sacred Defense narrators also collected minutes, correspondence, maps, and operational calques. These maps showed the boundaries of forces and the area of operation of each division, battalion, and company. More detailed maps were prepared from the original maps and provided to operational battalion commanders so that they would be aware of the scope of their combat activities.

After the end of the imposed war, the maps used during the Sacred Defense were collected and kept at the Research and Documents Center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

With the establishment of the Institute for Sacred Defense Sciences and Knowledge in 1384 and the launch of the Geography and Sacred Defense Research Group, one of the group' s duties was to prepare composite maps showing the roles of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Islamic Republic of Iran Army for use in university courses. For commanders to explain Sacred Defense operations as well, maps with revised and standardized scales were needed; the Geography and Sacred Defense Group revised and matched these maps against the original sources and made them available to commanders and users.

With the beginning of the activities of the Rahian-e Noor caravans throughout the country, simple and graphic maps were also prepared to guide visitors and introduce operational areas, the lines of Iranian and Iraqi forces, and Sacred Defense memorial sites. Using arrows and different colors, these maps display the positions of friendly and enemy forces in a way that is understandable to the general public.⁠[20]