Iranian Planes Again Flying Sorties in Iraq

Iran announced that its warplanes attacked targets inside Iraq on Friday in the first major sorties by the Iranian air force since it was disclosed that the United States had provided military spare parts to Iran’s revolutionary government.

Western analysts said it is impossible to tell whether the spare parts provided by the Reagan Administration had made it possible for the Iranians to get more planes into combat than in the previous two years.

“It seems that the Iranian air force has reappeared and done more in the last two months than in a long while,” said one Western analyst, who asked that he not be quoted by name. “They may have more planes or just may be more desperate.”

Another Western academician who specializes in Iran said he believes that the timing of the raids was designed to capitalize on the recent publicity about the arms deals in hopes of achieving a psychological victory over Iraq.

“I don’t believe that it’s coincidental that the Iranians have launched these air attacks at a time when the headlines are filled with reports about the American arms shipments to Iran,” the analyst said. “They are exploiting a psychological advantage at a time when Iraq and the (Persian) gulf countries are filled with speculation about the arms assistance to Iran.”

Iran and Iraq have been at war since September, 1980, and military observers had suggested that Iran’s air force, which was provided by the United States to Iran before the 1979 revolution, was largely grounded by lack of spare parts.

5 Times as Many Planes

Iraq, on the other hand, had five times as many warplanes flying as did Iran and was inflicting heavy damage on two fronts: against Iran’s key oil-exporting facilities and shipping, and against targets in Iranian cities.

Friday’s announcement said Iranian fighter-bombers destroyed economic and military targets in Diyala, north of Baghdad, and in Ali el Gharbi and Ali Sharqi, about 150 miles southeast of the Iraqi capital, early Friday morning.

The Iranian press agency quoted a communique from the Iranian war information headquarters as saying that the planes had “inflicted heavy losses” and that all planes returned safely to base.

Iraq had no immediate comment on the Iranian report.

65 to 100 Combat Planes

Iran is believed by Western experts to have between 65 and 100 combat aircraft, in various states of disrepair. The air force is said to include about 20 advanced F-14 fighters and 35 F-4 fighter-bombers and 45 F-5E interceptors. In addition, there were persistent reports this summer that Iran had taken delivery of 50 Jian 7s, the Chinese version of the Soviet MIG-21 fighter plane.

President Reagan disclosed last week that the United States had provided a “small amount” of arms and spare parts to the Iranians, although he gave no details of which weapons were involved.

Reports from Washington in recent days, however, have suggested that Iran’s F-4s were flying again after a long hiatus, creating the impression that it was the supply of spare parts that had made the difference.

More Aggressive in Air

Since the end of September, the Iranians have been more aggressive in the air, attacking the Iraqi towns of Baqubah and al-Kut. The raids generally involved low-level passes by one or two planes, according to reports from Baghdad.

Strategically, the raids are considered insignificant--”the air force equivalent of lobbing an artillery shell,” one analyst said. But they are important psychologically as Iraqi attacks against Iranian civilian targets continue to exact a high price in casualties and disruption of the battered economy.

“Iran does not have a war-winning air force,” one analyst said. “At best, it can use the air force in a psychologically threatening manner. After all, if Iraq has been unable to win the war with five times more planes, what hopes does Iran have?”