Saudis Seize Bandar Abbas, Advance Slows in Zagros Mountains - Grand Central Times - January 20th, 2020

[Capt Boyle]

Saudis Seize Bandar Abbas, Advance Slows in Zagros Mountains

Grand Central Times - January 20th, 2020

 

Elements of the Saudi 17th Mechanized Brigade and the 22nd Light Motorized Brigade have completed their capture of the coastal city, Bandar Abbas, according to a spokesman for the Saudi Armed Forces. After a short battle with the last holdouts of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps on the north side of the city, the Saudis claimed victory over the entire urban landscape, despite reports of skirmishes continuing well into the night. The Iranian armed forces, which have already been stretched incredibly thin fighting the Kurdish rebellion and attempting to make up for their losses from the American bombardment of the Iranian coast, were unable to make much of a conventional defense of the region, though the Saudi advance has not been without losses. The Iranian Human Rights Observatory reported that at least thirty-five Saudis were killed in yesterday’s fighting, though the Saudi government only confirmed six. 

 

Pictured: Saudi Forces advancing from their beachhead West of Bandar Abbas

 

The Saudi invasion, ostensibly to “restore order to the Arabian Sea and ensure that global trade is not disrupted”, has faced criticism as a blatant land grab and doubts have been raised about how far the Saudi army intends to push into Iran. Iran has decried the invasion as illegal and has already tabled a motion at the UN to sanction Saudi Arabia for their actions. There have also been sporadic counter-attacks by the Iranian armed forces, but for the time being the scattered Iranian troops along the coast have largely been forced to fight tactical withdrawals towards the Zagros mountain range. Many analysts have speculated that without the American strikes along the coast in 2019, the mostly-unopposed landings would have been impossible for the amphibious-inept Saudi Royal Land Forces.
 

By Archibald Wavell

Grand Central Times