Habib Baghaei

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Habib Baghaei
Native name
حبیب بقایی
Born1950 (age 74–75)
Shiraz
AllegianceIran
Branch
Years of service1975–present
RankBrigadier General
CommandsIRIA Air Force (1994–2001)
Battles / warsIran–Iraq War
Alma materIranian Officers' Academy

Habib Baghaei (Persian: حبیب بقایی; born June 1, 1950 in Shiraz) is an Iranian Brigadier General of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force and its commander from February 25, 1995 to August 26, 2001. A Northrop F-5 pilot, he later served as the third deputy commander-in-chief of the army from 25 February 2005 to 25 August 2009.[1] He was one of the senior commanders of the army's air force during the Iran–Iraq War.[2] Baghaei is currently a member of the military advisory group to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.[3]

Biography

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Habib Baghaei was born in 1950 in Shiraz, to parents from Asadabad, Abarkuh, and Yazd. In 1969, he entered the officer academy. Major General Mousa Namjoo was among his professors. He then entered the Iranian Officers' Academy and, after completing his flight training in Iran, was sent to the United States to complete his pilot training. Then, after obtaining his pilot's license, he returned to Iran and served as a second lieutenant at the Fourth Fighter Base [fa] in Dezful as an F-5 pilot.

Baghaei was a close friend of Abbas Babaei. Their acquaintance dates back to 1975 at the Dezful Air Base. He also served with Mustafa Ardestani at the Dezful base that year, and in the following years their cooperation continued at the 6th Bushehr Shekari Base [fa] and the 2nd Tabriz Shekari Base [fa].[4] Baghaei was also a classmate of Abbas Duran in high school.[5]

At the beginning of the Iran–Iraq War, Baghaei served at the 2nd Tabriz Shekari Base, and from there he continuously participated in retaliatory operations to destroy military facilities and targets in Iraq, including on November 1, 1980, along with a number of other pilots from that base, attacking the Kirkuk oil and gas facilities and refinery with two Tiger F-5 aircraft, destroying most of the aforementioned facilities.[6] In 1983, he was transferred to the Dezful base as an F-5 pilot and then as an operations officer. When in 1984, under the guidance of Abbas Babaei, the Raad base was established at the Omidiyeh Air Base, Baghaei was appointed its commander. Baghaei was stationed in Dezful in 1987 as the commander of the fourth Shekari base and the commander of operations of the Khuzestan air region and the representative of the defense base, and this responsibility of commanding the base continued until 1994.

After Mansour Sattari died in a plane crash near Isfahan Air Base in January 1994 while returning from a mission,[7] Habib Baghaei was appointed commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Force on February 26, 1994, by order of Ali Khamenei. He remained in this position until June 26, 2000.[8]

Habib Baghaei was appointed Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army on June 26, 2000 by a decree of Ali Khamenei and remained in this position until October 25, 2005.[9]

He married in 1975 and has two sons and a daughter.

References

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  1. ^ "«با تمامی فرماندهان ارتش آشنا شوید + جدول»" (in Persian).
  2. ^ "«مراسم نکوداشت سرتیپ خلبان "حبیب بقایی" برگزار می شود»" (in Persian).
  3. ^ "«تبریک انتصاب فرمانده قرارگاه پدافند هوایی خاتم الانبیاء»" (in Persian).
  4. ^ "«خاطرات خلبان حبیب بقایی از سرلشکر مصطفی اردستانی»" (in Persian). Archived from the original on 2016-08-07.
  5. ^ "«نخستین همایش چهره‌های ماندگار نیروی هوایی ارتش برگزار شد»" (in Persian).
  6. ^ "سرتیپ دوم خلبان علیرضا نمکی عراقی (۱۳۸۹). «کتاب نیروی هوایی در دفاع مقدس»" (PDF) (in Persian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-29.
  7. ^ "«زندگی‌نامه سرلشکر منصور ستاری»" (in Persian).
  8. ^ "«حکم انتصاب فرماندهی نیروی هوایی ارتش جمهوری اسلامی»" (in Persian).
  9. ^ "«حکم انتصاب سرتیپ بقایی به جانشینی فرماندهی کل ارتش»" (in Persian).