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| Iraq |
| Iran sends M-60 tanks into Iraq to help Kurds |
| 2014-10-17 |
| On Aug. 21, Kurdish social media activists published pictures that appear to depict elements of the Iranian 81st Armored Division entering Kurdistan via Khaneghein, north of Jalawla. The 81st is a battle-hardened division that fought hard during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. And before that, it had fought Kurdish insurgents in Iran’s restive northern provinces. Today the 81st Division is fighting alongside the Kurds. After the Iran-Iraq War, the division reorganized and re-armed. As other units gained Russian T-72 tanks, the 81st gathered up all the leftover, American-made M-60s, M-48s and M-47s. More recently, the 81st broke into three largely independent brigades—the 181st and 281st Armored Brigades plus a mechanized brigade. The units the activists spotted in Kurdistan most likely are elements of the 181st, as it’s responsible for defending the Sar-e-Pole Zahab border town near Khaneghein. Previously, there had been a build-up of armored units on the Iranian side of the border. Iranian army aviation stations Cobra attack helicopters in the vicinity of the 81st Armored Division. Iranian AH-1J Cobras are old by world standards, with outdated electronics and limited missile compatibility. But their crews possess a wealth of experience battling Kurdish separatists. They know how to fight fleet-footed insurgent troops. Even during the war with Iraq, Iranian armored divisions were too outdated to risk a direct confrontation with more modern Iraqi forces. Iranian tanks instead functioned as mobile artillery, following behind the infantry. This likely would be their role in the war against Islamic State. The Kurds are a light infantry force with few vehicles of their own and almost no artillery. Even aged M-60s fill a gap in the Kurdish order of battle. The Iranian M-60A1s that activists spotted in Khaneghein are vulnerable to the Islamists’ RPG-7 rockets, but if the tanks coordinate closely with Kurdish infantry, they could survive … and prove deadly against the terror group’s pickup trucks. To be clear, we don’t know whether Tehran intends to directly support the Kurds. It just seems unlikely the tanks would risk combat on their own. And in any event, the armor deployment marks a major escalation of the fighting—and a big boost for Iran’s role in the campaign. |
| Posted by:frozen al |
| #9 ISiS is selling enslaved Yazidi women for $10 each on ISIS slave markets. |
| Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664 2014-10-17 13:01 |
| #8 Not unexpected. Bad news for Turkey. 95% of their borders will be with Shiia states and their allies, after western bombing etc knock out ISIS. And we all know how Sunni and Shiia love to sing Kumbaya. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2014-10-17 08:59 |
| #7 You have to bear in mind that sunni-backed ISIS was created (formed, it's semantics at this point) as a counterweight to Hezbollah, which is an Iran-sponsored Shiite formation. The problem here, as always, is collateral bystanders. (What we need here is a middle east cage match.) |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-10-17 07:57 |
| #6 SteveS; Iran fears ISIS more than it fears Kurds' aspirations. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-10-17 07:29 |
| #5 SteveS, if you're looking for sides there are two options. 1. think icosahedron, 20 sides; or 2. Moibus strip, 1 side, their own. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2014-10-17 07:25 |
| #4 Me thinks the Iranians, who have their own Kurdish population, have woken up to the strife the Kurds are capable of causing (as per Turkey and Syria). Their real enemy is The Iraqi Sunni's, and so angling to keep the Kurds on side with military support gestures. The Kurds, of course, have no real affiliation with anyone, since they've been clobbered historically from all angles, and been kept without a state. Now finally is the chance for the Kurds to form their own state with the break pending break-up of Iraq. This is exactly where the Iranians want the Kurdish State to be, as opposed to Iran. |
| Posted by: Incredulous 2014-10-17 05:35 |
| #3 This war just gets stranger and stranger. Don't you people have sides? |
| Posted by: SteveS 2014-10-17 03:55 |
| #2 IRAN PICKING UP THE ISIS/ISIL GAUNTLET??? As perhaps due to ... ... * DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > ISIS SEIZE THIRD LARGEST MILITARY BASE [Hit] IN WESTERN IRAQ + TAKE ITS TANKS, HEAVY WEAPONS, + SUPPLIES - IRAQI NEWS. * SAME > VIDEO: ISIS: "THE ENTIRE WORLD WILL BE AN ISLAMIC STATE". Move along, people, clearly there is no Global Jihad, Global Nuclear Jihad, Neo-Ottoman Nuclear Turkey + US Convert to Islam aka Islamic Mahdi/Hidden Imam 2030-2050 here! YOOHOO, FBI-CIA, INTEL-PYWAR, I'M A'LOOKIN AT YOU! * TOPIX > ISIS, SHIA MILITIAS CONTROL OPPOSITE SIDES OF EUPHRATES. As I've said before, the ISIS/ISIL threat to Baghdad + Shia-led Iraqi Govt is also IMO a threat to IRAN. Will the ISIS/ISIL "Cross the Rubicon" + attack both Baghdad proper + ultimately SHIA IRAN??? -------------- * FYI DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN REPEATS IT MAY SEND MILITARY FORCES INTO PAKISTAN | PRESSTV - IRAN TO TAKE [unilateral = direct] ACTION IFF ISLAMABAD REFUSES TO SECURE BORDER - IRAN GENERAL. IRGC Deputy Commander BGEN. Hossein Salami. * TOPIX > [NewsKerala] AL-QAEDA, ISIS MAY JOIN INDIA MUJAHIDEEN, LeT [+ Other(s)] + ATTACK INDIA: NSG GENERAL. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2014-10-17 02:33 |
| #1 IMO read, IRAN = EAT MY DUST, TURKEY! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2014-10-17 00:56 |