25th Karbala Division

25th Karbala Division (Persian: لشکر 25 کربلا) was a division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

25th Karbala Division
لشکر 25 کربلا
Active	1980s–present
Country	Islamic Republic of Iran
Branch	Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Type	Infantry Special forces
Size	Division
Garrison/HQ	Sari, Mazandaran province
Nickname(s)	"Karbala" (کربلا)
Engagements	Iran–Iraq War First Battle of al-Faw Syrian Civil War Iranian intervention in the Syrian Civil War
Commanders
Commander in Chief	Governor-General Mahmoud Hosseinipour
Notable commanders	Morteza Ghorbani

It was first officially formed as the 2nd Karbala Brigade (تیپ 2 کربلا) during the Iran–Iraq War, and was later expanded into a division.

According to Mohsen Rezaei, after a series of unsuccessful Iranian offensive operations in late stages of the Iran–Iraq War, it was decided to form several new brigades in the IRGC, and one new "special" division. The Karbala Division was later selected to be the special division. A team consisted of Hossein Basir, Mohammad Hassan Tusi, and other commanders were tasked to organize this division, and Morteza Ghorbani was appointed as its commander. Since then, the division was called 25th Karbala Special Division (لشکر 25 ویژه کربلا). The division was employed in the First Battle of al-Faw, which was successful in capturing the strategic Al-Faw Peninsula. According to Iranian sources, Iraqi General Maher Abd al-Rashid had described the unit as a "black scorpion" that should be destroyed, possibly a reference to their black frogman suits during the battle.

Sepah-e Karbala

The division was merged with a Basij unit in the Mazandaran Province to form the Mazandaran Karbala Provincial Corps during the rearrangement of the IRGC units in 2008.

External links

• How was the 31st Ashura Division formed? mashreghnews.ir(in Persian)
• 31st Ashura Division defamoghaddas.ir (in Persian)