Jihad of Construction

{{short description|Iranian military engineering unit (1979–2001)}}

{{Infobox military unit

| unit_name = Jihad of Construction

| native_name = {{lang|fa|جهاد سازندگی}} Jahād-e Sāzandegī

| image = 200 IRR 1982 Back.jpg

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| caption = Jihad of Construction on a 200 rial banknote of 1982.

| dates = 1979–2001

| country = {{flagicon|Iran}} Islamic Republic of Iran

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| type = Combat engineering

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| nickname ="Trench-less trench-makers"

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| battles = Iran–Iraq War

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| disbanded =2001

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| notable_commanders = Morteza Aviny (head of Jihad TV Unit){{cite web|url=http://www.maj.ir/portal/Home/ShowPage.aspx?Object=News&CategoryID=d6531613-dd38-493e-afe3-ccdccea551c4&WebPartID=f7fde647-6822-4722-896b-134a447ce7aa&ID=74b2efd0-e7a7-43bb-a408-b0580fe4c9da|title=دفتر امور ایثارگران/سردار جهادگر شهید سید مرتضی آوینی|access-date=18 August 2016|archive-date=7 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807035449/http://www.maj.ir/portal/Home/ShowPage.aspx?Object=News&CategoryID=d6531613-dd38-493e-afe3-ccdccea551c4&WebPartID=f7fde647-6822-4722-896b-134a447ce7aa&ID=74b2efd0-e7a7-43bb-a408-b0580fe4c9da|url-status=dead}}

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Jihad of Construction or Construction Jihad ({{langx|fa|جهاد سازندگی}} Jahād-e Sāzandegī), or simply Jihad ({{lang|fa|جهاد}} Jahād) was one of Organizations of the Iranian Revolution. The organization began as a movement of volunteers to help with the 1979 harvest, but soon was institutionalized and took on a broader, more developmental role in the countryside. It was involved with road building, piped water, electrification, clinics, schools, and irrigation canals.Keddie, Modern Iran (2003), p.286 It also provides "extension services, seeds, loans," etc. to small farmers.Bakhash, Reign of the Ayatollahs, (1984) p.202

During the Iran–Iraq War, the organization held a combat engineering responsibility. They were active in various operation of the war,{{cite web|url=http://www.maj.ir/portal/Home/Default.aspx?CategoryID=9860300b-6c66-4253-96b5-889937280c4e|title=وزارت جهاد کشاورزی-دفتر امور ایثارگران|access-date=18 August 2016|archive-date=7 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807040934/http://www.maj.ir/portal/Home/Default.aspx?CategoryID=9860300b-6c66-4253-96b5-889937280c4e|url-status=dead}} most notably in Operation Fath ol-Mobin,{{cite web|url=http://www.tebyan.net/newindex.aspx?pid=5921|title=عملیات فتح المبین|first=موسسه فرهنگی و اطلاع رسانی|last=تبیان|date=18 August 2016|access-date=18 August 2016}} Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas,{{Cite web | url=http://khabaronline.ir/detail/155652/weblog/alaei-hosein | title=مروری بر عملیات بیت المقدس /3 | date=6 June 2011 }} Operation Kheibar, and Operation Dawn 8.

Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini has called them the "trench-less trench-makers" ({{lang|fa|سنگرسازان بی سنگر}} sangar-sāzān-e bi-sangar).{{cite web|url=http://www.maj.ir/portal/Home/ShowPage.aspx?Object=NEWS&CategoryID=1f859718-c1ae-4e17-b1d8-84412547269b&WebPartID=b21b6a80-fe61-403a-9984-f793aa35eed9&ID=a99fb8a7-f51b-44a1-b0dc-52650a09785a|title=اصلی/لقب "سنگرسازان بی سنگر" گرانبهاترین مدال افتخار از سوی امام خمینی به جهادگران|access-date=18 August 2016|archive-date=7 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807082156/http://www.maj.ir/portal/Home/ShowPage.aspx?Object=NEWS&CategoryID=1f859718-c1ae-4e17-b1d8-84412547269b&WebPartID=b21b6a80-fe61-403a-9984-f793aa35eed9&ID=a99fb8a7-f51b-44a1-b0dc-52650a09785a|url-status=dead}}

The organization engaged in development activities overseas in Tanzania (from 1987), Ghana and Lebanon (1989), Sudan and Sierra Leone (1991), and Albania (1993). It was also active in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.Lob, Eric, 2016. 'The Islamic Republic of Iran's Foreign Policy and Construction Jihad's Developmental Activities in Sub-Saharan Africa.' International Journal of Middle East Studies; Cambridge Vol. 48, Iss. 2, (May): 313–338.

The title for a Jihad member is Jahādgar ({{lang|fa|جهادگر}}). The title for the commanders is Sardār-e Jahādgar ({{lang|fa|سردار جهادگر}}).

In 2001 it was merged with the Agriculture Ministry to form the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad.{{Cite web |url=http://www.maj.ir/English/Main/Default.asp |title=The Ministry of Jihad-e Agriculture |access-date=15 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003190336/http://www.maj.ir/English/Main/Default.asp |archive-date=3 October 2011 |url-status=dead}}