Ghafour Jeddi Ardabili ( fa, غفور جدی اردبیلی) was an Iranian

McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and B ...

fighter pilot in the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. He played a significant role in the early months of the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, 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 S ...

by halting the advancement of Iraqi tanks into the Western Iran. A statue in honor of him is placed 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 in his hometown of

Ardabil Ardabil (, fa, اردبیل, Ardabīl or ''Ardebīl'') is a city in northwestern Iran, and the capital of Ardabil Province. As of the 2022 census, Ardabil's population was 588,000. The dominant majority in the city are ethnic Iranian Azerbaija ...

Early life

He was born in

in 1945. After finishing school, he was accepted into Iran's Air Force University and was sent to the United States of America for training in 1969.

Iran–Iraq war

There is a famous quote which Jeddi made at the start of

after suggestions from his friends to leave Iran, to which he is said to have replied, "The Government paid for us in peace status for these days."

Death

In the first 45 days of the war, he flew more than 80 missions. In his last mission near

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

, he attacked more than 40 camouflaged Iraqi tanks from Iraq's 9th Armour Division and was successful in eliminating the entire division. His aircraft was damaged by fire from Iraqi forces, but he was able to fly back into Iranian territory. However, his jet crashed in a region between

Mahshahr Bandar-e Mahshahr ( fa, بندرماهشهر) is a city and capital of Mahshahr County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. Mahshahr has two universities. Islamic Azad University of Mahshahr and Amirkabir University of Technology, Mahshahr campus. Both uni ...

and Abadan and he was forced to eject. His parachute failed to work and he died in 1980 at the age of 35.Ghafour Jeddi death
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Notes

References

Ghafour Jeddi
in

Islamic Republic of Iran Army , founded = , current_form = (Islamic Republic) , disbanded = , branches = , headquarters = Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, Tehran , website = , commander-in-chief = Maj. Gen. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeddi, Ghafour 1945 births 1980 deaths 1980 in Iran Iranian military aviators Islamic Republic of Iran Army personnel of the Iran–Iraq War Iranian military personnel killed in the Iran–Iraq War Iran–Iraq War pilots People from Ardabil

Early life

Iran–Iraq war

Death

See also

Notes

References