Being almost 1500 kilometres from the Iranian fighters at Shahrokhi Air Base, H-3 was out of range and if choosing a direct route, the Iranian aircraft would have had to fly over Baghdad and perform aerial refueling twice in Iraqi airspace, including once near Baghdad, which was heavily fortified by Iraqi air defence sites.

A team of IRIAF commanders (including Col.
Ghasem Golchin, Col.
Bahram Hooshyar and Col.
Fereydoun Izadseta) planned a more sophisticated, surprise operation instead.
Senior Iranian military officials had determined that Iraqi Air Force activity was lower in northern Iraq, so a plan was made to approach the Iraqi sites from that direction.
To increase their chances, the Iranian commanders decided to fly their aircraft to Urmia Lake first and refuel in the air, and then from there they would have a "clean" route passing over the mountains of northern Iraqi–Turkish border, while keeping the altitude at less than 300 ft (100 m) to avoid Iraqi and Turkish radars.
The route was around 3,500 km.
Nevertheless, the Phantoms could not reach their target without aerial refuelling a number of times.

The 31st and 32nd Tactical Fighter Wings (TFW) employed eight McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantoms, four Grumman F-14A Tomcats, one Lockheed C-130H Khofaash, a Boeing 747 airborne command post (which was to monitor Iraqi radio communications, and also act as a communication relay between the raiders and the IRIAF HQ), and two tankers (a Boeing 707 and a Boeing 747) for aerial refueling for the attack.

The operation began at 10:30am of 4 April 1981.
A formation of eight F-4 Phantoms (including six F-4Es and two F-4Ds), accompanied by two airborne reserves, departed from Hamedan Air Base (TAB 3) and proceeded towards Urmia Lake and then, after refueling in friendly airspace, crossed into Iraq, while the two reserve aircraft returned.
A pair of F-14 Tomcats patrolled the area hours before and after the strike began to counter any interception attempts by the Iraqi Air Force.
Meanwhile, three Northrop F-5Es from Tabriz Air Base (TFB.2) performed diversionary attacks on Hurriya Air Base near Kirkuk, with unknown results, but certainly distracting Iraqis away from the Phantoms.
The C-130H was flying near the Iran–Iraq border.
Some time earlier, the two tankers, which already had been sent to Syria, had taken off from a Syrian airport, and then clandestinely diverted from international commercial corridors in total radio silence, while apparently being bound for Iran.
Flying at a very low altitude over southern Turkey and eastern Syria, they crossed mountainous northwestern Iraq and finally joined the Phantoms over the western Iraqi desert.
Each Phantom refueled four times from the tankers, at the altitude of 300 ft (100 m), which was risky and far below any safety standards (aerial refueling is normally performed at 22,000 ft).
This was done to avoid detection by Iraqi radars; however, the fighters briefly appeared several times on the radars, but were mistaken for Turkish aircraft patrolling the border.
Colonel Izadseta supervised the operation from a command Boeing 747 that was in Syria's airspace.
The Syrian airport at Palmyra could also be used for possible emergency landing.

While approaching the airbases, the Phantoms split their formation into two groups, Alvand and Alborz.
This allowed attacks to come from several directions on the H3 complex.
They bombed all three airfields within the H-3 complex.
Achieving complete surprise, the fighters made several passes against all three airbases.
Both runways at Al-Walid were targeted in order to prevent any Iraqi aircraft from taking off.
Cluster bombs of the second group of Phantoms damaged three large hangars.
The Phantoms were able to make multiple attacks on multiple targets with cannon fire.
By the end of the second group's attack the Iraqi military forces had not responded with a coordinated counter-attack.
Effective anti-aircraft fire was also impaired due to the surprise attack.
Iraqi aircraft were scrambled in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept the Iranian force.

Afte
Being almost 1500 kilometres from the Iranian fighters at Shahrokhi Air Base, H-3 was out of range and if choosing a direct route, the Iranian aircraft would have had to fly over Baghdad and perform aerial refueling twice in Iraqi airspace, including once near Baghdad, which was heavily fortified by Iraqi air defence sites.
A team of IRIAF commanders (including Col. Ghasem Golchin, Col. Bahram Hooshyar and Col. Fereydoun Izadseta) planned a more sophisticated, surprise operation instead. Senior Iranian military officials had determined that Iraqi Air Force activity was lower in northern Iraq, so a plan was made to approach the Iraqi sites from that direction. To increase their chances, the Iranian commanders decided to fly their aircraft to Urmia Lake first and refuel in the air, and then from there they would have a "clean" route passing over the mountains of northern Iraqi–Turkish border, while keeping the altitude at less than 300 ft (100 m) to avoid Iraqi and Turkish radars. The route was around 3,500 km. Nevertheless, the Phantoms could not reach their target without aerial refuelling a number of times.
The 31st and 32nd Tactical Fighter Wings (TFW) employed eight McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantoms, four Grumman F-14A Tomcats, one Lockheed C-130H Khofaash, a Boeing 747 airborne command post (which was to monitor Iraqi radio communications, and also act as a communication relay between the raiders and the IRIAF HQ), and two tankers (a Boeing 707 and a Boeing 747) for aerial refueling for the attack.
The operation began at 10:30am of 4 April 1981. A formation of eight F-4 Phantoms (including six F-4Es and two F-4Ds), accompanied by two airborne reserves, departed from Hamedan Air Base (TAB 3) and proceeded towards Urmia Lake and then, after refueling in friendly airspace, crossed into Iraq, while the two reserve aircraft returned. A pair of F-14 Tomcats patrolled the area hours before and after the strike began to counter any interception attempts by the Iraqi Air Force. Meanwhile, three Northrop F-5Es from Tabriz Air Base (TFB.2) performed diversionary attacks on Hurriya Air Base near Kirkuk, with unknown results, but certainly distracting Iraqis away from the Phantoms. The C-130H was flying near the Iran–Iraq border. Some time earlier, the two tankers, which already had been sent to Syria, had taken off from a Syrian airport, and then clandestinely diverted from international commercial corridors in total radio silence, while apparently being bound for Iran. Flying at a very low altitude over southern Turkey and eastern Syria, they crossed mountainous northwestern Iraq and finally joined the Phantoms over the western Iraqi desert. Each Phantom refueled four times from the tankers, at the altitude of 300 ft (100 m), which was risky and far below any safety standards (aerial refueling is normally performed at 22,000 ft). This was done to avoid detection by Iraqi radars; however, the fighters briefly appeared several times on the radars, but were mistaken for Turkish aircraft patrolling the border. Colonel Izadseta supervised the operation from a command Boeing 747 that was in Syria's airspace. The Syrian airport at Palmyra could also be used for possible emergency landing.
While approaching the airbases, the Phantoms split their formation into two groups, Alvand and Alborz. This allowed attacks to come from several directions on the H3 complex. They bombed all three airfields within the H-3 complex. Achieving complete surprise, the fighters made several passes against all three airbases. Both runways at Al-Walid were targeted in order to prevent any Iraqi aircraft from taking off. Cluster bombs of the second group of Phantoms damaged three large hangars. The Phantoms were able to make multiple attacks on multiple targets with cannon fire. By the end of the second group's attack the Iraqi military forces had not responded with a coordinated counter-attack. Effective anti-aircraft fire was also impaired due to the surprise attack. Iraqi aircraft were scrambled in an unsuccessful attempt to intercept the Iranian force.
Afte
H-3 airstrike