Operation Scorch Sword

Operation Scorch Sword
Operation Scorch Sword
Part of the Iran–Iraq War
	Unofficial map displaying the general course of the Iranian F-4 Phantom IIs
Operational scope	Strategic
Location	Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre, Diyala Governorate, Iraq; 33°12′22″N 44°31′08″E / 33.206°N 44.519°E
Planned by	Maj. Gen. Javad Fakoori
Objective	Destruction of Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor
Date	30 September 1980
Executed by	Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
Outcome	Tactical victory Cessation of the Iraqi nuclear program for around three months;
	Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre Location of the Osirak nuclear reactor within Iraq

Operation Scorch Sword (Persian: عَمَلیاتِ شمشیرِ سوزان) was an Iranian airstrike on Iraq's Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre in 1980. Conducted eight days after the beginning of the Iraqi invasion of Iran, it was a surprise attack against the under-construction Osirak nuclear reactor, which was located 17 kilometres (11 miles) to the southeast of Baghdad and was widely perceived as a major asset for the then-ongoing Iraqi nuclear program. At dawn on 30 September, four Iranian F-4 Phantom IIs completed an aerial refueling near the Iran–Iraq border before flying into Iraqi airspace, where they deliberately climbed to a high altitude in order to be detected by Iraqi radar systems, albeit on a false course. Moments later, two of them peeled off and dropped to an extremely low altitude to avoid further detection and subsequently changed course for the Iraqi nuclear facility.^[1]

Executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, this airstrike was the first such attack on a nuclear reactor and the third attack on any nuclear facility in history: Iran sought to thwart Iraq's progress in nuclear research and development due to the Iran–Iraq War, fearing the possibility of any potential Iraqi nuclear weapons being used on Iranian soil in the future.^[2]^[3]

Ultimately, the damage inflicted by Iran during Scorch Sword was not absolute and only halted Iraq's nuclear efforts for around three months. However, a second airstrike conducted by Israel on 7 June 1981, codenamed Operation Opera, completely destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor in a substantial setback for Iraq.^[4] A decade later, seven months after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre was struck by the United States as part of the Gulf War aerial bombardment campaign.

^ When Iran Bombed Iraq's Nuclear Reactor, Iraq's Osirak Destruction.
^ Dan Reiter (July 2005). "Preventive Attacks against Nuclear Programs and the "Success" at Osiraq" (PDF). Nonproliferation Review. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
^ "McNair Paper 41, Radical Responses to Radical Regimes: Evaluating Preemptive Counter-Proliferation, May 1995". Au.af.mil. 30 September 1980. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
^ Tucker, Spencer C. (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 755. ISBN 978-1851098415.

[Operation_Scorch_Sword-1] When Iran Bombed Iraq's Nuclear Reactor, Iraq's Osirak Destruction.

[reiter-2] Dan Reiter (July 2005). "Preventive Attacks against Nuclear Programs and the "Success" at Osiraq" (PDF). Nonproliferation Review. Retrieved 29 November 2010.

[mcnair41-3] "McNair Paper 41, Radical Responses to Radical Regimes: Evaluating Preemptive Counter-Proliferation, May 1995". Au.af.mil. 30 September 1980. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2011.

[4] Tucker, Spencer C. (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Political, Social, and Military History. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 755. ISBN 978-1851098415.

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