Brigadier General Mahmoud Khazraei was the commander of the Air Training Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force during the Iran-Iraq War. He was martyred in February 20, 1986, when the Iranian Fokker F-27 aircraft was shot down by the Iraqi fighter jet near Ahvaz.

Mahmoud Khazraei was born on June 6, 1947, in Tehran.⁠[1] He completed the primary and secondary education in Tehran. After receiving his diploma, he was accepted in the national university entrance exam for several engineering fields, but due to his father’ s financial difficulties, he was unable to continue his studies at university. In 1966, he passed the entrance examination for the Air Force Officers’ College and graduated in 1969 with the rank of second lieutenant.⁠[2] He subsequently began working in the Air Force’ s radar branch.⁠[3]

Later, due to his strong interest in flying, Khazraei entered the Air Force Pilot School.⁠[4] After completing the basic flight training course in Iran, he was sent to the United States for advanced training. Because he had come from the Officers’ College, he was sent as a senior officer and completed his training at Reese Air Force Base. Khazraei completed the course in 1972, earned his certification on the F‑4 Phantom, and, once back in Iran, took up his post at Mehrabad Air Base in Tehran. After some time, he was transferred to Bushehr Air Base, where he later became head of the operations section of the fighter jets squadron.⁠[5] In 1973, he married and later became the father of one son and two daughters.

In the days leading up to the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Mahmoud Khazraei left the Air Force and joined the revolutionaries.⁠[6] In February 1979, a few days before the victory of the Islamic Revolution, together with a group of young men, he helped capture the police station in the Gorgan neighborhood of Tehran. During this incident, he was shot in the hand and wounded.⁠[7]

After the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Khazraei was a close companion of Dr. Mostafa Chamran (martyred) and was sent to western and northwestern Iran to help suppress⁠[8] the Komala and Democratic Party members.⁠[9] He also played a role in identifying the individuals involved in the coup attempt at Shahid Nojeh Air Base in Hamedan.⁠[10]

Following the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, Khazraei took part in overseas missions on several occasions, during which his aircraft was damaged several times, and he himself was injured more than once.⁠[11] In one operation, his plane sustained heavy damage and lost a landing gear, but he managed to land it safely.⁠[12] On his second high-altitude flight, together with his co-pilot Hussain Nikookar, their aircraft was hit by an enemy SAM-2 missile, but they survived.⁠[13] With only one engine working, they flew the damaged F-4 as far as southern Khorramabad before ejecting.⁠[14] During the emergency ejection, his hand was broken when it hit the cockpit.⁠[15]

On November 6, 1980, together with several other pilots, he was sent to Vahdati Air Base in Dezful,⁠[16] where he carried out missions in support of ground forces.⁠[17]

Khazraei participated in Operation H-3 (the attack on the H-3 airbase complex near the Jordan-Iraq border) in 1981.⁠[18] In this operation, flying with co-pilot Asghar Baqeri as part of the first three-plane formation of F-4s, he was tasked with bombing one of the bases.⁠[19] After striking the target, his aircraft was damaged and lost its aerial refueling capability.⁠[20] With fuel running low, he landed the plane at a base in Syria.⁠[21]

In mid-1981, Khazraei was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and became commander of the 3rd Tactical Air Base of Hamedan, a position he held for two years.⁠[22]

In 1983, Khazraei was appointed commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force,⁠[23] and in early 1984, he became commander of the Iranian Army Air Training Center, a post he held until his martyrdom.⁠[24]

After Operation Valfajr 8, on February 20, 1986, a Fokker F-27 aircraft carrying Ayatollah Fazlollah Mahallati (Imam Khomeini’ s representative in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), several members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, judges of the Supreme Court, and Mahmoud Khazraei took off for an inspection visit to the warfronts and headed toward Ahvaz. Near Ahvaz, in the Veic area,⁠[25] the aircraft was pursued and struck by a missile fired from an Iraqi MiG‑23 fighter jet.⁠[26]

The Iraqi aircraft first offered the pilot, Colonel Abdolbaqi Darvish, political asylum for everyone on board in any country if he landed in Iraq. The pilot left the final decision to Ayatollah Mahallati, who chose martyrdom over captivity. The aircraft was destroyed by the enemy fighter jet and crashed, resulting in the martyrdom of all aboard.⁠[27] On February 21, the bodies of the martyrs were transferred from Ahvaz to Omidiyeh and then flown by a C-130 to Tehran.⁠[28] Martyr Khazraei’ s body was buried in section 53 of Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery in Tehran. After his martyrdom, the Air Training Center was named after Martyr Khazraei.⁠[29]

Books written about Mahmoud Khazraei include Setaregan-e Asemani (Heavenly Stars) by Qasem Akbari Muqaddam and Foroogh-e Parvaz (The Radiance of Flight) by Hamid Boorboor.