Operation Prime Chance

Operation Prime Chance

Iraqi invasion

  • Kaman 99
  • 1st Khorramshahr
  • Scorch Sword
  • Abadan
  • Morvarid

Stalemate (1981)

  • Dezful
  • H3

Iranian offensive (1982)

  • Samen-ol-A'emeh
  • Jerusalem Way
  • Undeniable Victory
  • 2nd Khorramshahr
  • Jerusalem
  • Ramadan

Strategic stalemate (1983-1984)

  • Before the Dawn
  • Dawn 1
  • Dawn 2
  • Dawn 3
  • Dawn 4
  • Dawn 5
  • Kheibar
  • Dawn 6
  • Marshes
  • Badr

Duel offensives (1985-1986)

  • Al-Anfal Campaign (Halabja)
  • Dawn 8 (1st al-Faw)
  • Mehran
  • Karbala 4
  • Karbala-5
  • Karbala-6
  • Karbala Ten
  • Nasr 4

Final stages

  • Beit-ol-Moqaddas 2
  • Zafar 7
  • Tawakalna ala Allah (2nd al-Faw)
  • Forty Stars
  • Mersad

Tanker War

  • Earnest Will
  • Prime Chance
  • Eager Glacier
  • Nimble Archer
  • Praying Mantis

International incidents

  • Operation Opera
  • USS Stark incident
  • Air Flight 655 Incident


Operation Prime Chance (August 1987 – June 1989) was a United States Special Operations Command operation intended to protect U.S.-flagged oil tankers from Iranian attack during the Iran–Iraq War. The operation took place roughly at the same time as Operation Earnest Will (July 1987 – December 1988), the largely Navy effort to escort the tankers through the Persian Gulf. The operation was begun after the mining of the U.S.-flagged Kuwaiti oil tanker Bridgeton.

Read more about Operation Prime Chance:  Overview, Planning, Execution, Units

Famous quotes containing the words operation, prime and/or chance:

    “Waiting for the race to become official, he began to feel as if he had as much effect on the final outcome of the operation as a single piece of a jumbo jigsaw puzzle has to its predetermined final design. Only the addition of the missing fragments of the puzzle would reveal if the picture was as he guessed it would be.”
    —Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)

    “Faith in reason as a prime motor is no longer the criterion of the sound mind, any more than faith in the Bible is the criterion of righteous intention.”
    —George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)

    “I make this direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the United States getting into war, if we do all we can now to support the nations defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce in their defeat, submit tamely to an Axis victory, and wait our turn to be the object of attack in another war later on.”
    —Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)