Iraqi Troops Recapture Big Oil Field

New York Times
By YOUSSEF M. IBRAHIM
June 26, 1988

PARIS, June 25 - … A few days ago, Iraqi troops attacked the Iranian border town of Mehran and then handed it over to Iranian guerrillas belonging to the Mujahedeen Khalq movement, to convey an impression that Iranians are rising in military revolt against their own Government, Arab diplomats here asserted. Earlier reports from Baghdad said the guerrillas had captured the town without the aid of Iraqi troops.

The Iraqi-led attack on Mehran was prompted by orders from Iraq's Defense Minister, Gen. Adnan Khairallah, to take ''territories used by the enemy as a springpoint to attack borders.'' He also named other Iranian border towns, including Mehran, Dehloran, Qasr-e-Sherin and Soma, as future targets. A few days ago, Iraq attacked 10 oil industry targets including several Iranian oil fields and offshore platforms in the Persian Gulf, causing significant damage.