The First Battle of Al-Faw, fought on February 11, 1986, was a battle of the Iran-Iraq War

Iran-Iraq War

The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...

. The Iranians launched a surprise attack against the Iraqi troops defending the al-Faw Peninsula

Al-Faw Peninsula

The Faw peninsula is a marshy region adjoining the Persian Gulf in the extreme south-east of Iraq, between and to the south-east of the cities of Basra and Abadan ....

. The Iraqi units in charge of the defenses were mostly made up of poorly-trained Iraqi Popular Army conscripts that collapsed when they were suddenly attacked by the Iranian Pasdaran (Revolutionary Guard) forces.

The Objective

One of the first objectives of the Al Faw Battle was to capture the oil industries in the Al Faw Peninsula before Iraqi enemy forces could destroy them. This primary objective was to prevent an ecological disaster, a disaster which was seen in 1991 during the first Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

. Oil

Oil

An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 was a vital resource that was crucial to the rebuilding of Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

following the war.