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President Saddam Hussein, on Khomeini's fanatical Islamic Guards, who suicidally hurled themselves at the enemy in one human wave after another. In doing so, they upset the operations of the regular army. At least three Iranian brigades were destroyed in the early stages of the offensive; total Iranian losses during the campaign now stand at about 12,000 dead and 20,000 wounded. For their part, Islamic zealots are charging the army with treason. Says an army officer: "Tension between the guards and the army is higher than ever."
Khomeini is anxious to continue his war against Iraq's Saddam Hussein, and U.S. intelligence sources expect another attack on the strategic Iraqi city of Basra, located on the Persian Gulf in the heart of Iraq's oil-producing region, within the next few weeks. But for the first time, Iranian mullahs are having difficulty recruiting volunteers to die for their cause. Complains Hojjatoleslam Rouhani, chairman of the defense committee of the Majlis: "Only some valorous and militant youths go to the fronts, and the others loaf around with no sense of responsibility." The mullahs are in the process of enacting draconian legislation against draft dodgers. The new law will demand that all able-bodied men in Iran provide documents proving that they have done their national service or are legally exempt from it. Without such documents, they will not be able to work, do business, get married or even apply for a driver's license. Already, Islamic Guards are asking for the documents on street corners. Those suspected of avoiding military service are being sent to training centers pending further investigation. The zealous guards also make "house calls," dragging away from their homes those accused of draft evasion by their neighbors.
As morale has dropped, discontent with the Khomeini regime has increased. So has violent opposition. Last month Massoud Rajavi, the Paris-based leader of the Mujahedin-e Khalq, the leading guerrilla organization opposed to Khomeini's theocratic rule, ordered his followers to attack Khomeini's "military-police apparatus." Since then, more than 300 Islamic Guards and government officials have died in Mujahedin attacks.
Two weeks ago, in one of their more spectacular raids, guerrillas surrounded an Islamic Guard training base at Sardasht, in Kurdistan, and attacked it with rocket-propelled grenade launchers. More than 30 guards died in the assault. Yet another incident underlines the seriousness of what amounts to an undeclared civil war in Iran: early this month, Mehdi Mohammadi Gilani, son of Khomeini's chief Islamic justice, Ayatullah Mohammadi Gilani, was killed in an armed clash with the guards. He was the third and last Gilani son to die fighting the regime that his father protects.