Javad Fakoori

Fakoori was a commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force at the rank of colonel. He entered the Iranian Air Force in 1958 as a fighter pilot of the F-100. He later qualified on the F-4 fighter-bomber in 1967. He commanded a flight, squadron, wing and group of F-4 aircraft during the Pahlavi regime. In 1978, he was promoted to colonel and stationed in Tehran as a staff officer. Despite the fact that one of his cousins was a leading member of the MEK and had sought asylum in Sweden in 1980, he had the confidence of Khomeini and Rafsanjani.{{cite book|author=Ehteshami Anous|title=After Khomeini: The Iranian Second Republic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQ_GC9O4Y1kC&pg=PA22|accessdate=17 February 2013|year=1995|publisher=Routledge, Chapman & Hall, Incorporated|isbn=978-0-415-10879-9|pages=22}} With the consent of Khomeini, then-president Abolhassan Banisadr appointed him to this post in June 1980.{{cite book|author=Dilip Hiro|title=Iran Under the Ayatollahs|url=https://archive.org/details/iranunderayatoll0000hiro|url-access=registration|accessdate=17 February 2013|year=1987|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|isbn=978-0-7102-1123-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/iranunderayatoll0000hiro/page/156 156]}}{{cite news|title=Iranian military chiefs reshuffled|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19800619&id=w9NWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=O_kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5793,1194329|accessdate=27 August 2013|newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle|date=19 June 1980|agency=Associated Press}}

Fakoori was the commander of the Iranian Air Force during the Iran–Iraq War. He also served as the Iranian defence minister from spring 1981 to September 1981.{{cite book|author=Sepehr Zabir|title=The Iranian Military in Revolution and War (RLE Iran D)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TcjmD51dFFMC&pg=PT277|accessdate=17 February 2013|date=23 April 2012|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-136-81270-5|pages=277}} Fakoori replaced Mostafa Chamran as defence minister when the latter died in a plane crash accident during the Iran–Iraq war. Mohammad Salimi replaced Fakoori as defence minister in 1981.

{{Main|1981 Iranian Air Force C-130 crash}}

Fakoori and other senior military officials, including Valiollah Fallahi and Mousa Namjoo, were killed in a crash near Tehran on 29 September 1981. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini made a speech following the incident in which he implied the Mujahedeen Khalq as the perpetrator without clearly condemning the leftist group.{{cite news|title=Crash kills four top Iranian officers|url=https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=de_October1981|access-date=7 August 2021|work=The Daily Egyptian|agency=Associated Press|date=1 October 1981|location=Beirut|volume=66|issue=29}}

Fakoori was posthumously promoted to the rank of major general.

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{{s-ttl|title=Commander of the Iranian Air Force|years=1980–1981}}

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{{s-ttl|title=Minister of Defense|years=1980–1981}}

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{{Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Ministers of Iran}}

{{Commanders of the Iranian Army's Air Force}}

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Category:20th-century Iranian politicians

Category:1936 births

Category:1981 deaths

Category:Iranian military aviators

Category:Islamic Republic of Iran Army colonels

Category:Islamic Republic of Iran Army personnel of the Iran–Iraq War

Category:Commanders of Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force

Category:People from Tabriz

Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Iran

Category:Burials at Behesht-e Zahra

Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1981