Abbaas Dowraan ( fa, عباس دوران, October 22, 1950 in

Shiraz Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...

– July 21, 1982 in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

) was an acclaimed fighter pilot and is regarded as a national hero of

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 ...

. General Doran piloted an F-4 Phantom II in the

Imperial Iranian Air Force The history of the Iranian Air Force, currently known as the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, can be divided into two phases—before the Islamic Revolution, and after it. Imperial era The Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was a branch ...

and the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force. He died in action during 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 ...

Education

Abbas Doran attended the Undergraduate Pilot Training Program at

Columbus Air Force Base Columbus Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Columbus, Mississippi. The host unit at Columbus AFB is the 14th Flying Training Wing (14 FTW), which is a part of Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The resident ...

. He graduated in the autumn of 1972 as a member of Class 73-02.

Career

While serving in the Iranian Air Force, he participated in air strikes against the

Iraqi Navy The Iraqi Naval Forces (Arabic: القوات البحرية العراقية), or the Iraqi Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Armed forces of Iraq. Formed in 1937, initially as the ''Iraqi Coastal Defense Force,'' its primary resp ...

during

Operation Morvarid Operation Morvarid ( fa, عملیات , lit=Pearl) was an operation launched by the Iranian Navy and Air Force against the Iraqi Air Defence sites on 28 November 1980 in response to Iraq positioning radar and monitoring equipment on the Mina A ...

in October 1980. He was valued for planning IRIAF operations missions against the Iraqi military with a high rate of success. During the Iran-Iraq war he petitioned Islamic Republic political leaders asking them to stop executing and arresting former Imperial Iranian Air Force pilots.

Last mission

In 1982, in an attempt to show the world that Iraq was stable and safe and has the upper hand in the war,

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

planned to host the 7th Summit of the international

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

. The conference was planned to take place at Baghdad's

Al-Rashid Hotel The Royal Tulip Al Rasheed Hotel (sometimes spelled ''Al-Rashid'') (Arabic, ) is an 18-storey hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, often visited by journalists and media personnel due to its location within Baghdad's Green Zone. It is named after the eighth ...

.Irna
Iran tried to show that Baghdad was vulnerable to IRIAF air strikes. On July 21, 1982, Doran flew his F-4E Phantom to Baghdad and attacked the Al-Doura refinery in Baghdad. His F-4E was then hit by a Roland 2 SAM. His

weapon systems officer A Weapon Systems Officer (WSO), nicknamed "Wizzo", is an air flight officer directly involved in all air operations and weapon systems of a military aircraft. Historically, aircrew duties in military aircraft were highly specialised and rigi ...

ejected Ejection or Eject may refer to: * Ejection (sports), the act of officially removing someone from a game * Eject (''Transformers''), a fictional character from ''The Transformers'' television series * "Eject" (song), 1993 rap rock single by Sense ...

from the aircraft and was taken

prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

. In order to force the cancellation of the conference and show

insecurity, Doran directed his aircraft into the

and crashed in a square near the hotel in Baghdad. To this date, no one really knows for certain why Abbas didn't eject from his aircraft. Some people say that the ejection seat might have had a malfunction, while others believe that he didn't want to go through the burden of evading Iraqis or becoming a prisoner. His actions caused the summit to be held in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

instead of Baghdad.XV Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, Sharm El Sheikh, 11–16 July 2009
''Previous Summits''

Legacy

Due to his actions and sacrifice during the war, General Doran became a hero of the IRIAF.

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 the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

returned Doran's remains (a leg bone) to Iran on 21 July 2002.

References

External links