Jihad of Construction
Jihad of Construction or Construction Jihad, or simply Jihad 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. It also provides "extension services, seeds, loans," etc. to small farmers.
During the Iran-Iraq war, the organization held a combat engineering responsibility. They were active in various operation of the war, most notably in Operation Fath ol-Mobin, Operation Beit-ol-Moqaddas, Operation Kheibar, and Operation Dawn 8.
Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini has called them the "trench-less trench-makers".
The organization engaged in development activities overseas in Tanzania, Ghana and Lebanon, Sudan and Sierra Leone, and Albania. It was also active in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The title for a Jihad member is Jahādgar. The title for the commanders is Sardār-e Jahādgar.
In 2001 it was merged with the Agriculture Ministry to form the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad.
