Civilian casualties of Iranian cities by ballistic missile attacks during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988).

Objective: To determine the nature and extent of Iranian casualties by ballistic missile attacks during the eight years of the Iraq-Iran war.

Methods: The data collected about Iraqi missile strikes on Iranian cities included the following: date and time, number and type of missiles, cities targeted, and injuries and deaths resulting from impacts of missiles in civilian areas. The data were extracted from a database that was constructed by the army staff headquarters based on daily reports of Iranian army units during the war.

Results: Over a period of eight years (1980-1988), Iraqi army fired 533 ballistic missiles at Iranian territories. From those, 414 missiles (77.7%) landed on Iranian cities. The impacts of these missiles caused the deaths of 2,312 civilians and injured 11,625 others. Three types of ballistic missiles were used: FROG-7, Scud, and Al-Hussein (a modified version of the Scud missile). Twenty-seven cities in Iran were struck by Iraqi ballistic missiles. The highest mortalities from ballistic missiles were in Dezful and Tehran. Iraqi missile attacks continued for 90 months (2,748 days).

Conclusion: Our results point to the necessity of investigating the psychological consequences of Iraqi ballistic missile attacks among survivors in 27 Iranian cities during the eight years of the Iraq-Iran war.