The President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi, has sent her condolences to the family and children of Colonel Behzad Mo’ezzi following his recent passing.
Colonel Mo’ezzi, aged 83, passed away from leukemia on Sunday, January 11, 2021, in a hospital in Paris.
Maryam Rajavi’s condolences were also extended to the patriotic service members of the Army, fellow members of both the NCRI and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), and especially to Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the PMOI/MEK.
“The soaring eagle in the sky of freedom and Iranian resistance, the hero who led the riskiest flights, the pilot of the People’s Mojahedin, Colonel Behzad Mo’ezzi, has become eternal. He has now joined the combatant and PMOI/MEK military servicemen who have sacrificed their lives for Iran’s freedom and for the prosperity of the people of Iran. I have and always be grateful to his lasting service…may he rest in peace,” said Maryam Rajavi.
She explained that for more than 42 years he had dedicated his life to the struggle against the religious tyranny that the mullah’s enforced on Iran and became a brilliant example of uncompromising struggle against the Shah and the mullahs.
We have gathered to pay tribute to Col. Behzad Mo’ezzi, a national hero, the most revered pilot among patriotic service members of the military in #Iran’s contemporary history; who used to say he had been born to carry out the most important mission and flight of his life. pic.twitter.com/OFH9CKnJha
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 17, 2021
As the most experienced pilot of the Iranian air force, he sacrificed his life and his position when he flew the Iranian Resistance leader, Massoud Rajavi, from the first fighter Air Force base in Tehran to Paris in July 1981, to avoid capture when the regime was hunting the resistance leader during an acceleration of arrests, imprisonment, and executions of PMOI/MEK members.
Once on the Iranian Air Force Boeing 707, Colonel Mo’ezzi followed a routine flight plan from Iran before deviating out of Iranian ground space into Turkish airspace, heading then towards safety in the French capital. Colonel Mo’ezzi said, on several occasions, that he considered his flight with Massoud Rajavi as the most important flight of his life.
In her condolence address, Maryam Rajavi went on to say, “Colonel Behzad Mo’ezzi, the heroic Mojahed pilot who never gave up hope to one day be on the return flight to Tehran, has now reached new heights, joining the martyrs who fell for freedom. May he rest in peace. There is no doubt that the courageous youth in Iran, the patriotic and revolutionary service members in the military and the Air Force, will receive his hope.”
The late Colonel always paid tribute to Colonel Ismail Farkhondeh and the 12 brave Air Force personnel who, following Massoud Rajavi’s departure from Tehran to Paris, was executed by the clerical regime.
Everyone noticed his virtues, & his humane & popular attributes. He had absolutely no interest in wealth, job, ambitions, positions, and even personal affluence. In this regard, as Massoud Rajavi said, he was truly a pious dervish. #عقاب_تیزپرواز_ایران pic.twitter.com/MdDFypLWO8
— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) January 17, 2021
Since leaving Iran in 1981, Colonel Mo’ezzi has resided in France, at the headquarters of the NCRI, and shared a simple life in the company of his brothers in the Iranian Resistance.
“His frankness and honesty, his noble nature and humility, which had allowed him to detach himself from worldly interests, his piety, and heroism, as well as his self-sacrifice in the face of the ruling regime in Iran, made him the most popular and beloved servicemen in Iran’s contemporary history,” Maryam Rajavi added.
