Mousa Namjoo

Mousa Namjoo
Born17 December 1938
Bandar-e Anzali, Imperial State of Iran
Died29 September 1981(1981-09-29) (aged 42)
Kahrizak, Iran
AllegianceIran
Service / branchGround Force
Years of service1958–1981
RankColonel
Battles / warsIran–Iraq War
Awards Order of Nasr
Alma materImam Ali Military University
Minister of National Defence
In office
17 August 1981 – 29 September 1981
Prime MinisterMohammad-Javad Bahonar
Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani
Preceded byJavad Fakoori
Succeeded byMohammad Salimi

Mousa Namjoo (Persian: سید موسی نامجو; 17 December 1938 – 29 September 1981) was an Iranian military officer who served as the minister of defence from August to September 1981.

Biography

Namjoo was born in Bandar-e Anzali on 17 December 1938.[1] He graduated from Officers' School.[2] He was married and had three children.[3]

He worked at the National Military Academy with the rank of colonel.[4][5][6] He was instrumental in developing a cooperation between the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and army before and during the Iran Iraq war.[6] He also fought in the war.[7] He was appointed minister of defence and armed forces logistics to the interim government led by Prime Minister Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani on 2 September 1981.[8][9]

Death

Main article: 1981 Iranian Air Force C-130 crash

Namjoo was killed in a plane crash together with 80 other people on 29 September 1981 near Tehran.[5][7] The aircraft was a US-made C-130 Hercules transport plane.[10][11] Other leading military figures killed in the crash were Valiollah Fallahi, Javad Fakoori and Yousef Kolahdouz.[12][13] They were returning to Tehran from southwestern battlefront with Iraq.[14] On 1 October 1981, a funeral service was held for Namjoo and other victims at the military academy in Tehran.[10]

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini made a speech following the incident indicating the Mujahedeen Khalq as the perpetrator without clearly condemning the leftist group.[14]

Legacy

Namjoo's biography entitled A Man with Orange Color was published by Ezzatollah Alvandi in 2005.[15]

References

  1. ^ Ezzatolah Alvandi (2005). مردی به رنگ پرتقال (شهید سید موسی نامجو) (in Persian). Tehran: Shahed. ISBN 964-394-210-4.
  2. ^ شهید سرلشکر موسی نامجوی Archived 13 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine وب‌گاه رسمی وزارت دفاع ایران] Ministry of Defence (in Persian)
  3. ^ خاطراتی ازشهید سرتیپ خلبان سید موسی نامجو وب‌گاه رسمی مرتضی آوینی] Aviny (in Persian)
  4. ^ Nikola B. Schahgaldian; Gina Barkhordarian (March 1987). The Iranian Military Under the Islamic Republic. RAND. ISBN 0-8330-0777-7.
  5. ^ a b "The Revolutionary Period". Country Data. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  6. ^ a b "National security". Pars Times. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  7. ^ a b John Kiefner (1 October 1981). "4 military chiefs in Iran are killed in a plane crash". The New York Times. Beirut. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  8. ^ Mir M. Hosseini. "Interim Government Formed". Fouman. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  9. ^ Mehrzad Boroujerdi; Kourosh Rahimkhani (2018). Postrevolutionary Iran. A Political Handbook. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-0815635741. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Crash kills Iranian military leaders". Herald Journal. Beirut. AP. 1 October 1981. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  11. ^ "103 Reported Killed as Iranian Army Plane Crashes; Altimeter Suspected". Los Angeles Times. Tehran. 4 November 1984. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Iranian military aircraft crashes". Sarasota Journal. UPI. 30 September 1981. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  13. ^ Sepehr Zabir (2011). Iran Since the Revolution (RLE Iran A). London; New York: Routledge. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-415-61069-8.
  14. ^ a b "Crash kills four top Iranian officers". The Daily Egyptian. Vol. 66, no. 29. Beirut. AP. 1 October 1981. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Biography of Martyr Namjoo". Tehran: Shahed. 16 September 2005. Retrieved 27 June 2013.[permanent dead link‍]