Javad Fakoori ( fa, جواد فکوری, 3 January 1936 – 29 September 1981) was a prominent military figure who served as the 4th

defence minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...

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 Turkm ...

in September 1980 to August 1981.

Career

Fakoori was a commander of the

Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force , patron = , motto = , "Skyhigh is my place" , colours = Ultramarine blue , colours_label = , march = , mascot ...

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 The Pahlavi dynasty ( fa, دودمان پهلوی) was the last Iranian royal dynasty, ruling for almost 54 years between 1925 and 1979. The dynasty was founded by Reza Shah Pahlavi, a non-aristocratic Mazanderani soldier in modern times, who ...

. In 1978, he was promoted to colonel and stationed in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, 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 th ...

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 Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

and Rafsanjani. With the consent of Khomeini, then-president

Abolhassan Banisadr Seyyed Abolhassan Banisadr ( fa, سید ابوالحسن بنی‌صدر; 22 March 1933 – 9 October 2021) was an Iranian politician, writer, and political dissident. He was the first president of Iran after the 1979 Iranian Revolution abo ...

appointed him to this post in June 1980. Fakoori was the commander of the Iranian Air Force during the

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 Counci ...

. He also served as the Iranian

from spring 1981 to September 1981. Fakoori replaced

Mostafa Chamran Mostafa Chamran Save'ei ( fa, مصطفی چمران ساوه‌ای) (2 October 1932 – 21 June 1981) was an Iranian physicist, politician, commander and guerrilla fighter who served as the first defense minister of post-revolutionary Iran ...

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.

Death

Fakoori and other senior military officials, including

Valiollah Fallahi , birth_date=1931 , death_date= , birth_place= Kulej, Taleghan County, Iran , death_place= Kahrizak District, Iran , image=Chief of Staff General Valiollah Fallahi.JPG , caption= Brigadier General Valiollah Fallahi , nickname= , allegiance= Iran ...

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 The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...

as the perpetrator without clearly condemning the leftist group. Fakoori was posthumously promoted to the

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * H ...

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fakouri, Javad 20th-century Iranian politicians 1936 births 1981 deaths Burials at Behesht-e Zahra Iranian aviators Islamic Republic of Iran Army colonels Islamic Republic of Iran Army personnel of the Iran–Iraq War Commanders of Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force People from Tabriz Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Iran