Iran marks the 34th anniversary of the liberation of the strategic port city of Khorramshahr from Iraqi forces under the former dictator Saddam Hussein.�

Iranian forces recaptured the southwestern city in a landmark operation code-named Beit ol-Moqaddas.

Iran launched the operation in April 1982 and liberated Khorramshahr on May 24 of the same year. In retaking the city, the Iranians captured some 19,000 troops from the Iraqi army.

Some 6,000 Iraqi forces were also killed and thousands of others injured during the operation.

During an open session of Iran�s parliament on Monday, speaker Ali Larijani said, �The liberation of Khorramshar marks a turning point in the combat history of the revolutionary Iranian nation.�

The imposed war began in 1980, a year after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, with Iraq invading Iran with the support of major powers and their allies in the region.

The war drew to a close in August 1988, when Iran accepted UN Security Council Resolution 598 which declared Saddam as the initiator of the conflict.

During eight years of the war, Iraqi forces received economic, military and intelligence support from more than 20 countries led by the United States.

By Press TV