Ahmad Kazemi ( fa, احمد کاظمی) (22 July 1958 – 9 January 2006) was an Iranian commander in the

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

and one of the most notable commanders in

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

Early life

He was born on 22 July 1958 in Najaf Abad,

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

. His father, Eshghali (), was a commander of

Imperial Army of Iran The military history of Iran has been relatively well-documented, with History of Iran, thousands of years' worth of recorded history. Largely credited to its historically unchanged geographical and geopolitical condition, the modern-day Iran, ...

but withdrew in 1974 before the beginning of the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. They moved to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

in 1975. Ahmad with his father joined the fighters in

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distric ...

. With the emergence of the Iranian revolution, he struggled against

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

. After the victory of the Revolution and establishment of

IRGC The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

(Sepah) in 1980, he joined the Sepah and went to

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

in 1981 to fight in the

1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran The 1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran is an event which erupted in mid-March 1979, two months after the completion of the Iranian Revolution. It subsequently became the largest among the Consolidation of the Iranian Revolution, nationwide uprisi ...

Military career

began, he joined the war with a 50-member group in

Abadan Abadan ( fa, آبادان ''Ābādān'', ) is a city and capital of Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, which is located in the southwest of Iran. It lies on Abadan Island ( long, 3–19 km or 2–12 miles wide). The island is bounded ...

fronts and began fighting with

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. At the end of the war, the 50-member group became a powerful and important division of Sepah. Direct presence at the front line lead to injuries of his leg, hands and back. One of his fingers was cut. After the end of the war, he attended the university and got a BA degree in Geography and a master's degree in management and defense spending. He made his doctoral studies in the field of national defense. He was appointed as Commander of

Ground Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Ground Forces ( fa, نیروی زمینی سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی), acronymed NEZSA ( fa, نزسا), are the land force which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), maintain i ...

on 1 June 2005 by the Supreme Leader

Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...

. He was one of the military advisors to

Presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islam ...

and

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

. He was a close friend of

Mehdi Bakeri Mehdi Bakeri ( fa, مهدی باکری‎; 1954 – 16 March 1985) was an Iranian war hero in the Iran–Iraq War. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tabriz. During the Iranian revolution of 1979 he joined the proteste ...

and Hossein Kharrazi as well as Quds Force commander

Qasem Soleimani Qasem Soleimani ( fa, قاسم سلیمانی, ; 11 March 19573January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination in 2020, he was the commander of the Quds F ...

IRGC Air Force Commander

Ahmad Kazemi was appointed as the commander of 14th Imam Hossein Division on 18 December 1997, and was subsequently appointed to the ''Air Forces of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (

IRGC AF The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force or Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Air and Space Force (IRGCASF; fa, نیروی هوافضای سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, niru-ye havâfazây-e sepâh-e pâsdârâ ...

)'' Commander on 29 June 2000. During his tenure in the IRGC Air Force, Kazemi took effective measures to improve the quality of the air force in terms of organization and structure, and for the first time equipped the IRGC AF with close air support

Sukhoi Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' (russian: Грач (''rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet Gro ...

aircraft, and equipped the IRGC AF helicopter organization with purchased

Mil Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 ( NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian servic ...

helicopters. He was also in contact with the IRGC's missile unit and assisted

Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam ( fa, حسن تهرانی مقدم) (29 October 1959 – 12 November 2011) was an Iranian military officer in the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and designer of Iran's ballistic missile project. ...

in developing ballistic missile projects. When the

Bam earthquake The 2003 Bam earthquake struck the Kerman province of southeastern Iran at 01:56 UTC (5:26 am Iran Standard Time) on December 26. The shock had a moment magnitude of 6.6 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''). The earth ...

happened in year 2003, Kazemi mobilized the

fleet to rescue the Bam earthquake victims by preparing the Bam Airport. Such a way that, a plane and a helicopter flew in every 13 minutes and a total of 30 thousand wounded were moved by the

fleet.

Personal life

He was married in 1978. He had two sons, Mohammad Mehdi (born 1980) and Saeed (born 1989). His eldest son, Mohammad Mehdi is now a civil engineer.

Death

He was killed in a falcon plane crash near

Urmia Urmia or Orumiyeh ( fa, ارومیه, Variously transliterated as ''Oroumieh'', ''Oroumiyeh'', ''Orūmīyeh'' and ''Urūmiyeh''.) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran and the capital of Urmia County. It is situated at an alt ...

. According to the Aviation Safety Network, the plane "crash-landed in a field in poor weather conditions... Reports indicate that the crew did not get three greens after selecting the gear down while on approach to Orumiyeh Airport. A flypast was done so the control tower could observe the status of the landing gear. While circling the airplane suffered a double engine flame-out, reportedly as a result of engine icing. An emergency landing was attempted in a field, but the Falcon crashed". Reports that the plane crashed due to sabotage or a bomb are still unproven. His funeral was held in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

and Iranian Leader

attended as well. In a letter, Iran's Leader Ali Khamenei wrote that,

References

In the mourning of Haj Ahmad Kazemi
aftabir.com

External links

Official Website
(Persian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kazemi, Ahmad 1958 births 2006 deaths Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel of the Iran–Iraq War People from Najafabad Recipients of the Order of Fath Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps brigadier generals