Attack on H3 The attack on H3 was a surprise attack by Iran during the Iran - Iraq War in April 1981 , against the Iraqi Air Force at H3 Airbase . Operation . In Saddam ' s attempts for a successful offensive against Iran on the northern front between 12 and 22 March 1981 , Iraq fired two 9K52 Luna - M surface - to - surface Rockets against cities of Dezful and Ahwaz . Within days after this attack , commanders of the 31st and 32nd Tactical Fighter Wing in Shahrokhi Tactical Air Base ( TAB 3 , near Hamadan ) planned a counterattack . According to Iranian intelligence , the Iraqi Air Force removed most of her valuable assets to its Al - Wallid air base on the Baghdad - Amman highway close to Jordanian border , part of H - 3 complex . There at least two squadrons equipped with ten Tu - 22B and at least six Tu - 16 heavy bombers as well as two other units with MiG - 23BN s and Su - 20 s were hidden , presumably out of reach of the Iranian Air Force . For the operation against Al - Wallid , the 31st and 32nd Tactical Fighter Wings ( TFW ) employed F - 4E Phantom crews , four F - 14A Tomcat s , one Boeing 747 airborne command post and three Boeing 707 tankers . Iran had noted that the interceptors of the Iraqi air defenses were usually not very active , especially not in Northern Iraq , so a plan was made to approach the Iraqi sites from that direction . Aside from Iraqi interceptors , Iranian pilots had to be careful to avoid SAMs in order to reach their target . Al - Wallid was almost 1500 kilometres from Hamadan , and Phantoms had to fly over Baghdad . To increase their chances , Iranian commanders decided to fly their aircraft to Urmia Lake first , and then from there they would have a " clean " route passing over the mountains of Northern Iraqi - Turkish border . Since Phantoms could not reach their target without a number of aerial refueling , two Boeing 747 had to be sent to Syria in order to help the operation by meeting the strike group somewhere over western Iraqi border . The operation began at 10 : 30am of the April 4 , 1981 . A formation of eight F - 4E , accompanied by two airborne reserves started from Hamedan AFB ( TAB 3 ) towards Urmia Lake and then after refueling over the friendly airspace they crossed into Iraq . a pair of F - 14 Tomcats patrolled the area hours before the strike began and stayed there a few hours later to counter any probable retaliation from Iraqis . Two Boeing 747 tankers were deployed to Damascus airport in Syria a day before the mission begins . When the 8 phantoms were busy doing their first aerial refueling over Iranian air space , they receive the Go Ahead signal from Colonel Izadseta aboard one of the 747 ' s in Syria , then they proceed to the target . The Phantoms split their formation into two sections coming from several different directions and attacked different parts of the complex . First they bombed both runways at Al - Wallid in order to block any Iraqi fighters from taking off . Additionally , bombs were used to destroy several hardened aircraft shelters . In the meantime cluster bombs of the second group of Phantoms wrecked three large hangars , two radar stations and five Iraqi bomber s . Subsequently , other parked aircraft were strafed . The Iraqi ' s still had not reacted in force , their anti - aircraft fire was weak , and the Phantoms had enough time to make multiple attacks and hit multiple Iraqi aircraft with gunfire . Iran claimed that 48 Iraqi planes were destroyed or badly damaged by the end of the attack . After the attack the Iranian formation turned back towards their own bases . No Iranian F - 4E aircraft were damaged during the attack on Al - Wallid and although many Iraqi interceptors were scrambled toward them , none could catch up with Phantoms . The Iranian attack against Al - Wallid is the most successful Iranian operation against any air base since 1967 . Eight aircraft were responsible for destroying a large number of enemy aircraft on the ground in one mission . Iraqi air defense command later claimed that Syrian interceptors were helping Iranians during the attack , and their radar followed Phantoms for some 67 minutes . Situations . During the war , Iran was suffering from several problems . International . This mission was accomplished despite the support of Iraq by surrounding countries ( including Turkey , Jordan , Kuwait , Saudi Arabia , and Persian Gulf Sheikdoms ) along with support of the Saddam Hussein regime by the US , UK , France , Soviet Union and China . Internal . Right after the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 , groups from extremist secular to Marxists , sectarians , religious , and royalists emerged . Some of them were active politically and others were committing crimes against civilians to put pressure on revolution leaders to receive more power and share in new established republic system . These groups like Forghan , People ' s Mujahedin of Iran also known as MEK , PMOI and MKO , Organization of Iranian People ' s Fedai Guerrillas , corrupt military commanders affiliated with the former Shah regime and Komala and more . These terrorist groups were active in attempting to assassinate pro - revolution politicians and innocent people who were going to mosques to pray , along with and political leaders , bombing political party offices , bombing and killing ministers , prime minister and president Mohammad - Ali Rajai , assassinate present supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei . Most weapons in hands of these terrorists were Israel ' s Uzi and German ' s G3 . Most of members and leaders of these terrorist groups now live in Israel , UK , US , France and Germany . Total numbers of documented victims of these terrorist attacks reached about 17 , 000 . Target . Location of H3 airbase was in the west of Iraq in heart of desert near Jordan - Arabia - Syria - Iraq borders and very far from Iran ' s borders .