Despite its considerable distance from the warfronts, Yazd Province played an active role during the eight-year Iran-Iraq War.

Yazd Province is bordered by Khorasan Province to the northeast, Isfahan Province to the north and west, Fars Province to the southwest, and Kerman Province to the southeast.⁠[1] Abarkuh, Ardakan, Bafq, Bahabad, Taft, Khatam, Ashkezar, Mehriz, Meybod, and Yazd are the counties of the province, with the city of Yazd as its capital.⁠[2] Beyond its distinctive natural and geographical position and underground resources, Yazd is also among the oldest regions of Iran in terms of history and culture.⁠[3]

Yazd is the second Iranian city, after Bam, to be registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ethnic groups residing in Yazd are primarily Persians and Arabs. Major historical and cultural landmarks of the province include the Grand Jameh Mosque, the ancient Faraj Mosque, Seyyed Rukn al-Din Shrine, the Twelve Imams Shrine, the Zoroastrian Towers of Silence, the Zoroastrian Fire Temple (Yazdan), and Dowlat-Abad Garden.⁠[4] According to the 2016 census, the population of Yazd Province is 1,138,533 people, comprising 340,657 households.⁠[5]

On March 30, 1978, the people of Yazd, led by Ayatollah Muhammad Sadouqi (martyred), rose in commemoration of the fortieth day after the martyrdom of people in Tabriz on February 18, 1978. The uprising took place at the Rouzeh Muhammadiyeh Mosque (Hazireh), which later became the center of the Islamic Revolution in Yazd Province. This event marks a major turning point in the revolutionary struggle of the people of Yazd against the Pahlavi regime. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Revolution Committees were established in the province by local youth. In June 1979, after the formation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Yazd, most of these young activists joined the IRGC.

Under the leadership of Ayatollah Muhammad Sadouqi (martyred), Yazd became one of the pioneering provinces in confronting anti-revolutionary movements. For instance, the local office of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (Munafiqeen) in Yazd was shut down only a few days after its inauguration in the summer of 1979. Several residents of the province were martyred during the terrorist campaigns of the 1980s carried out by the Munafiqeen and other anti-revolutionary groups. Foremost among the martyrs of the province was Ayatollah Muhammad Sadouqi, the Imam’s representative and Friday Prayer Leader of Yazd, who was assassinated by Munafiqeen after Friday prayers on the 2nd of July 1982.

In their earliest missions, the Yazd IRGC units were dispatched to the deprived regions of Sistan and Baluchestan (Saravan and Nikshahr). Simultaneously, other forces were sent to the deprived areas of Kurdistan, where they formed the Bukan and Saqqez IRGC units under the command of Muhammad Montazerqaem (commander of the Yazd IRGC) to counter anti-revolutionary groups. Thanks to the efforts of Muhammad Montazerqaem (martyred), the IRGC unit in Qasr-e Shirin was also formed with the participation of IRGC members from Yazd Province.

On April 25, 1980, following the failure of the U.S. military operation in Tabas, Muhammad Montazerqaem was martyred, and several IRGC members accompanying him were wounded.

Even before the official outbreak of the imposed war, Iraqi border violations had begun, resulting in the martyrdom or injury of several people from Yazd Province. Among them was Ebrahim Ebrahimi Tork, commander of the Yazd IRGC, who was martyred on May 1, 1980, after being struck by enemy mortar shrapnel in the Qasr-e Shirin.⁠[6]

With the onset of the imposed war and before the formation of IRGC combat units, Basij and IRGC forces from Yazd were deployed to various fronts. As major operations began and IRGC units were organized, the forces from Yazd Province engaged the enemy as Ashura, Karbala, Nabi Akram (pbuh), and 17th Qom brigades. They also participated in Operation Beit al-Muqaddas (April 1982) by one infantry battalion and an armored battalion within the Ashura Brigade, as well as an infantry battalion and an infantry company within the 17th Qom Brigade. Following Operation Ramazan (July 1982), most Yazd forces were incorporated into the 8th Najaf Ashraf Brigade. In Operation Muharram (November 1982), units from Yazd engaged the enemy with three battalions and an independent company. Later on, the IRGC brigades were upgraded to divisions, and Yazd Province sought to establish its own provincial unit.⁠[7]

Ultimately, before Operation Valfajr 4, the independent brigade of Yazd Province,⁠[8] designated as the 18th Al-Ghadir Brigade, was officially formed on September 26, 1983.⁠[9] Before the formation of Al-Ghadir Brigade, Yazd forces had served collectively via 29 battalions across 7 units, including the Ali ibn Abi Talib (as), Imam Hussain (as), 25th Karbala, Ashura, Zolfaqar (Army), Najaf Ashraf, and Kurdistan.⁠[10] After its establishment, Yazd’s forces were organized under the Al-Ghadir Brigade.⁠[11]

The 18th Al-Ghadir Brigade took part in 11 offensive and 20 defensive operations until the end of the imposed war.⁠[12] Its first commander, Zabihollah Asizadeh, was martyred on October 12, 1983, before Operation Valfajr 4, in western Baneh. The brigade’s second commander, Ebrahim Jafarzadeh, was martyred on the 15th of March 1985, in the Hoor al-Sakhrah.⁠[13] During the Iran-Iraq War, 1,691 members of the 18th Al-Ghadir Brigade were martyred or went missing, and 7,393 were wounded.⁠[14]

38,741 residents of Yazd Province were deployed to the frontlines at least once, with some serving for more than 2,000 days. Approximately 75 percent of Yazd’s volunteer forces were academics and students.

Public support activities in Yazd Province—including manpower and logistical assistance—were coordinated through IRGC centers and the Jahad-e Sazandegi War Support Headquarters, with efforts directed toward supporting the Al-Ghadir Brigade.⁠[15] By the end of the Iran-Iraq War, the local Jahad-e Sazandegi War Support Headquarters, which was tasked with collecting popular contributions, had dispatched a total of 6,741 truckloads of public aid to the frontlines. In addition, substantial financial contributions were deposited by the people of Yazd into a special account opened by Ayatollah Sadouqi at the Imam Mahdi (as) Fund.⁠[16]

One month after the outbreak of the imposed war, a headquarters titled the “Yazd Office for the Relief of War-Affected People” was created under the supervision of Ayatollah Sadouqi to accommodate war migrants. Vacant houses in old neighborhoods were temporarily given to displaced families, and any usable state-owned or public buildings were also allocated for this purpose.⁠[17]

In addition to military participation and logistical support, the people of Yazd contributed to engineering efforts during the war. One of the most notable initiatives was the excavation of the Handeli Canal on the far side of the Karkheh River months before Operation Fath al-Mubin (March 22, 1982). Thanks to the efforts of Ayatollah Sadouqi, a highly experienced qanat specialist from Yazd, Haj Gholamhussain Hojati, took on the responsibility of digging the canal. Hojati, with the help of some local people and military forces, finished the project successfully, which played a significant role in the success of Operation Fath al-Mubin.

Women of Yazd Province also actively participated in the Sacred Defense by serving in medical and healthcare services, logistical support, and blood donation. Women were active both behind the frontlines and, in some cases, even on the western and Kurdistan fronts, organizing war-support headquarters, collecting cash and in-kind aid in neighborhoods and mosques, and dispatching these supplies to the frontlines.⁠[18]

4,140 people of Yazd were martyred during the Sacred Defense, 9,965 were wounded, and 775 were taken as prisoners of war. With 1,046 martyrs, students and educators constituted the largest group of martyrs from the province. One of the youngest martyrs, 12-year-old Zafar Khaledi from Meybod County, was martyred on January 18, 1982, in Shush. Roknabad village in Meybod County ranks first nationwide in the proportion of martyrs relative to its population.⁠[19]

Rostam Azarbad is a Zoroastrian from Yazd Province who was martyred while fighting anti-revolutionary elements in Kurdistan.⁠[20]

The Sacred Defense Museum of Yazd Province is located in the Safaeiyeh district of Yazd, near Azadegan Park.⁠[21]

There are 376 martyrs’ cemeteries across the counties of Yazd, Ashkezar, Meybod, Ardakan, Mehriz, Bafq, Bahabad, Khatam, Taft, and Abarkuh. In addition, 85 memorials dedicated to the martyrs of the eight-year Sacred Defense are located throughout the province, housing the remains of 166 unidentified martyrs.⁠[22]