Abbas Doran (; October 22, 1950 – July 21, 1982) was an Iranian

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

and

war hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake o ...

. Doran piloted an

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 that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bower ...

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 The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF; ) is the air force, aviation branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army. The present air force was created when the Imperial Iranian Air Force was renamed in 1979 following the Iranian Revoluti ...

. He was killed in action during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

after he crashed his plane in a

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

city square whilst conducting a mission on the city.

Education and career

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

Iraqi Navy The Iraqi Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Armed forces of Iraq. Formed in 1937, initially as the ''Iraqi Coastal Defense Force,'' its primary responsibilities was the protection of Iraq's coastline and off ...

during

Operation Morvarid Operation Morvarid () was an operation launched by the Iranian Navy and Air Force against the Iraqi Navy sites on 27 November 1980 in response to Iraq positioning radar and monitoring equipment on the Mina Al-Bakr and Khor-al-Amaya oil rigs to ...

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 arresting and executing 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 (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

planned to host the 7th Summit of the international

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 121 countries that Non-belligerent, are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold W ...

. The conference was planned to take place at Baghdad's Al-Rashid Hotel.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 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 or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

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

insecurity, Doran directed his aircraft into the Al-Rashid Hotel and crashed in a square near the hotel in Baghdad. To this date, no one really knows for certain why Abbas did not eject from his aircraft. Some people say that the ejection seat might have malfunctioned, while others believe that he did not 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 (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

instead of Baghdad.

Legacy

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

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

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

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doran, Abbas Iranian military aviators Iranian military personnel killed in the Iran–Iraq War Iran–Iraq War pilots Aviators killed by being shot down Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force personnel 1950 births 1982 deaths

Education and career

Last mission

Legacy

See also

References

External links