Sarpol-e Zahab is one of the counties of Kermanshah Province in western Iran, which witnessed a turbulent period of conflict and bombardment by the Iraqi army during the Iran-Iraq War.

Sarpol-e Zahab County borders Javanrud to the north, Qasr-e Shirin and Iraq to the west, Islamabad-e Gharb to the east, and Gilan-e Gharb to the south. The people of the city are Kurdish and speak Kurdish in the Kalhuri, Jafi, and Gorani dialects. They follow the Shia and Sunni Islam as well as Ahl-e Haq tradition.⁠[1]

The county seat is Sarpol-e Zahab city,⁠[2] situated on the international Tehran– Baghdad Road, commonly known as the Karbala Road.⁠[3] Bishgan and Tang-e Hammam are the closest villages of Sarpol-e Zahab to the Iraqi border, lying roughly one kilometer away. Sixteen kilometers east of Sarpol-e Zahab lies the Pataq Pass, known as the Gateway of the Zagros.⁠[4]

The Lullubi people are recognized as the earliest known inhabitants of the region. According to the Sarpol inscription, the Lullubis were ruled by a powerful king named Anubanini. This relief is among the oldest known historical monuments, dating to the Third Dynasty of Ur in the late third millennium BC.⁠[5]

Sarpol-e Zahab County has 32 historical sites, the most important of which from the Islamic period is the shrine of Ahmad ibn Ishaq (as) — a hadith scholar, companion, and special representative of Imam Hassan Askari (as). The primary occupation of the local population is farming and animal husbandry, and the spoken language are Jafi and Kalhuri Kurdish. The Alvand River runs through the city, and the regional climate is relatively warm and semi-arid.⁠[6] One of the city’ s key military installations is Abuzar Garrison, built between 1965 and 1968 in the Qaleh Shahin area, which was known as Shahin Garrison before the war began.⁠[7]

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, anti-revolutionary groups destabilized the city and set up arms markets in parts of it, attacking and looting shops and even pharmacies. After the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was established on April 22, 1979, IRGC forces in the area — in cooperation with military units — dismantled the arms and ammunition markets and restored security to the region.⁠[8]

When Iraq attacked Iran on September 22, 1980, and bombarded Sarpol-e Zahab, the city was once again plunged into insecurity. Iraqi troops entered the city on September 24, but were pushed back the same day by a counterattack from its defenders.⁠[9]

The main axis of the Iraqi army’ s assault on Kermanshah Province was the Qasr-e Shirin– Sarpol-e Zahab– Pataq route. After seizing the Tileh Kuh border post and the Zahab Plain on September 24, 1980, Iraq’ s 8th Mountain Infantry Division reached the Dastak area and the northern section of the city. With the fall of Qasr-e Shirin on September 25, Iraq’ s 6th Armored Division advanced with 150 tanks to the western gate of Sarpol-e Zahab.⁠[10] At this point, orders were issued to evacuate Abuzar Garrison, but pilot Ali-Akbar Shiroodi and Asghar Vesali, together with a group of fellow pilots, chose to remain with three helicopters and prevented both the city and the garrison from falling. On September 23, 1980, a number of army aviation helicopters from Kermanshah joined those already stationed in Sarpol-e Zahab to confront the enemy, with three fire teams — each consisting of two Cobra gunships and one Bell 214 — operating in Sarpol-e Zahab and Qasr-e Shirin, two fire teams on the Gilan-e Gharb axis, two in the Chel-Zari area of Sumar, two in the Tang-e Qooch Ali area of Ilam, and one on the Moosian– Dehloran axis. Later, in recognition of Shiroodi’ s courage in defending Shahin Garrison, it was renamed Abuzar Garrison — after one of Shiroodi’ s sons.⁠[11] The garrison served as the base for Army Aviation helicopters, and in the early years of the war, pilots such as Ali-Akbar Shiroodi, Ahmad Keshvari, and Sadollah Davarzadeh flew from there and played a key role in the liberation of the Zahab Plain and other positions.⁠[12]

Artillery strikes and bombing intensified to the point where it was no longer possible for civilians to remain in the city. As a number of Iraqi forces entered the city’ s main street, the members of the Malek Ashtar Battalion of the 81st Armored Division (Army) under Captain Hussain Adabian, along with local tribal fighters from the Zahab Plain- known as the Fedaiyan-e Islam Group led by Kak Abdullah- and IRGC units from Hamadan led by Hussain Hamedani, forced them to retreat. The Iraqis, meanwhile, kept shelling different parts of the city, from the heights of Qaraviz and Bazi-Deraz to the west of Sarpol-e Zahab. Moreover, between September 26 and October 4, 1980, they tried to seize the city several times — each time being repelled by Iranian resistance.

On September 29, 1980, Iranian forces— with air force and army aviation support — attacked to liberate the Qaraviz Heights and Qasr-e Shirin city. However, they failed given the Iraqis’ control of strategic positions and high ground and their possession of hundreds of tanks and armored personnel carriers and dozens of infantry battalions.⁠[13]

On October 7, 1980, Iraqi troops seized the Bazi-Deraz Heights, whose northern slopes command a full view over the cities of Sarpol-e Zahab and Qasr-e Shirin, the Zahab Plain, Abuzar Garrison, and the Rikhak area.⁠[14]

On October 13, 1980, an Iranian Cobra helicopter was shot down by enemy anti-aircraft fire twenty kilometers northwest of Sarpol-e Zahab in the Kooreh-Moosh area, and both pilots were martyred.⁠[15] Pilot Hamid-Reza Soheiliyan was among those martyred in the operation.⁠[16]

On November 30, 1980, responsibility for the defense of Sarpol-e Zahab was handed over to the 3rd Armored Brigade of the 81st Division.⁠[17] On December 19, 1980, an offensive operation targeting Kalineh and Seyyed Sadeq was carried out to retake the Kooreh-Moosh, Kalineh, and Seyyed Sadeq heights, concluding with partial success two days later.⁠[18]

The second phase of the Operation Kalineh and Seyyed Sadeq was conducted on March 6, 1981, in the northwest of Sarpol-e Zahab, aimed at capturing the hills overlooking the settlements of Kalineh and Seyyed Sadeq as well as the Kooreh-Moosh Heights.⁠[19]

In early 1981, Vali-e Asr (as) Hospital was opened at Abuzar Garrison, playing a vital role in treating the wounded from the western fronts throughout the war.⁠[20]

Operation Bazi-Deraz was launched on April 22, 1981, to liberate the Bazi-Deraz Heights. The seven-day operation saw repeated exchanges of attacks and counterattacks between Iranian and Iraqi forces, but not all objectives were achieved. Captain Hussain Adabian, commander of the Malek Ashtar Battalion, and Ali-Akbar Shiroodi, an Army Aviation pilot, were martyred during the operation.⁠[21]

To complete the objectives of Operation Bazi-Deraz, a second operation — Bazi-Deraz 2 — was launched between September 2 and 7, 1981, with the participation of IRGC units and the 81st Armored Division of the Army. Consequently, parts of the Kooreh-Moosh Heights and several peaks of Qaraviz were liberated.⁠[22]

In 1982, following their defeats in the south, Iraqi forces also withdrew from the western regions. Sarpol-e Zahab came out of the enemy’ s line of sight and fire in July 1982, and residents gradually returned to their homes. After the Iraqis retreated, Sarpol-e Zahab city, Abuzar Garrison, and the Al-Mahdi (as) township became rear bases for directing and supporting the war effort. Iraqis’ withdrawal from Iranian territory was the result of the successful Operation Meimak, several smaller operations in western Iran, as well as the successes of operations Fath al-Mubin and Beit al-Muqaddas in the south. The Iraqi parliament voted on June 10, 1982, for an unconditional ceasefire and withdrawal from occupied territories within two weeks, in an attempt to avoid final defeat. Following this decision, Iraqi forces retreated from many areas and took up positions along the border line.⁠[23]

By that point, roughly 60 percent of Sarpol-e Zahab city and around 45 percent of the county’ s villages had been damaged in Iraqi attacks. From October 1982, the Jahad-e Sazandegi of Hamadan began rebuilding the area.⁠[24]

The Iraqi army continued launching airstrikes against Sarpol-e Zahab until the end of the war. Among the most significant was the bombing of the Iranian forces stationed at Abuzar Garrison on March 7, 1985, concurrent with Operation Badr, in which many military forces and residents of the surrounding villages were martyred.⁠[25]

On March 20, 1988, the Iranian Army Ground Forces launched Operation Imam Mahdi (as) to liberate the Ahangaraan Heights and Hill 654, located northwest of Sarpol-e Zahab. Despite breaking through Iraqi defensive lines, Iranian forces were unable to take their objectives and withdrew to their previous positions.⁠[26]

A few days after Iran accepted Resolution 598 in July 1988, the Iraqi army launched widespread attacks in southern and western Iran and occupied Sarpol-e Zahab on July 22.⁠[27] A few days later, on July 25, the members of the People’ s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, while supported by heavy Iraqi artillery fire, attacked Iran along the Sarpol-e Zahab axis.⁠[28] The following day, the Iraqi army retreated in the face of Iranian resistance.⁠[29]

Over the course of the Iran-Iraq War, Sarpol-e Zahab was struck by Iraqi artillery and airstrikes more than fifty times, which resulted in the martyrdom of 112 and injuries of 369.⁠[30] The martyrs’ cemetery of Sarpol-e Zahab is located near the shrine of Ahmad ibn Ishaq (as).⁠[31]

After the war, a memorial was built five kilometers from the city in the Zarrin-Joob village — the site of his martyrdom — to honor the memory of Ali-Akbar Shiroodi.⁠[32] Two unidentified martyrs were also laid to rest in the southern section of Abuzar Garrison.⁠[33]

According to the 2016 census, 85,342 people live in Sarpol-e Zahab County.⁠[34] One of the most significant recent events in the county was the earthquake that struck western Iran on November 25, 2018.⁠[35]