Nader Jahanbani | |
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Director of Physical Education Organization | |
In office 7 August 1977 – 11 February 1979 | |
Monarch | Mohammad Reza Pahlavi |
Prime Minister | Jamshid Amouzegar Jafar Sharif-Emami Gholam Reza Azhari Shapour Bakhtiar |
Preceded by | Ali Hojjat Kashani |
Succeeded by | Hossein Fekri |
Personal details | |
Born | Tehran, Pahlavi Iran | 16 April 1928
Died | 13 March 1979 Qasr Prison, Tehran, Iran | (aged 50)
Relations |
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Nickname(s) | Eagle, Blue-eyed General |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Imperial State of Iran |
Branch/service | Air Force |
Years of service | 1950–1979 |
Rank | Lieutenant general(Sepahbod) |
Commands | Deputy Chief of the Imperial Iranian Air Force |
Battles/wars | Battle of Nalos (1947) |
Sepahbod Nader Jahanbani (Persian: نادر جهانبانی, romanized: Nāder-e Jahānbānī; 16 April 1928 – 13 March 1979) was an Iranian general, distinguished fighter pilot of Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) and the deputy chief of the IIAF under Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Despite being executed in 1979 by Islamic Revolutionaries, he is widely lauded as the "father of the Iranian Air Force" along with General Mohammad Khatami and General Amir Hossein Rabii, for modernizing the air force to become a potent and powerful force whose advanced equipment and training they acquired for Iran, such as the F-14 Tomcat, would save Iran's crucial infrastructure during the Iran–Iraq War. He was the leader of the Golden Crown, the first and national aerobatics display Iranian team. He is nicknamed the "blue eyed general of Iran". By many accounts, he is considered one of the best and most capable pilots of his time.