Ahmad Kazemi

General Ahmad Kazemi (22 July 1958 – 9 January 2006) was an Iranian commander of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution and one of the main figures in Iran–Iraq War.

Early life
He was born on 22 July 1958 in Najaf Abad, Isfahan. His father was a commander of Imperial Army of Iran but withdrew in 1974 before the beginning of the Iranian Revolution. They moved to Lebanon in 1975. Ahmad with his father joined the fighters in southern Lebanon. With the emergence of the Iranian Revolution, he struggled against monarchy. After the victory of the Revolution and establishment of AGIR (Sepah) in 1980, He joined the Sepah and went to Kurdistan in 1981 to suppress the domestic enemies of the revolution.

Military career
After the Iran–Iraq War began, he joined the war with a 50-member group in Abadan fronts and began fighting with Iraq. At the end of the war, the 50-member group became a powerful and important division of Sepah. Direct presence at the front line lead to injuries of his leg, hands and back. One of his fingers was cut. After the end of the war, he attended the university and got a BA degree in Geography and a Masters degree in management and defense spending. He made his doctoral studies in the field of national defense. He was appointed as Commander of Ground Forces of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution on 1 June 2005 by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. He was one of the military advisors to Presidents Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Personal life
He was married in 1978. He had two sons, Mohammad Mehdi (born 1980) and Saeed (born 1989). His eldest son, Mohammad Mehdi is now a civil engineer.

Death
He was killed in a falcon plane crash near Urmia. According to the Aviation Safety Network, the plane "Crash-landed in a field in poor weather conditions. ... Reports indicate that the crew did not get three greens after selecting the gear down while on approach to Orumiyeh Airport. A flypast was done so the control tower could observe the status of the landing gear. While circling the airplane suffered a double engine flame-out, reportedly as a result of engine icing. An emergency landing was attempted in a field, but the Falcon crashed". Reports that the plane crashed due to sabotage or a bomb are still not proved. His funneral was held in Tehran and was buried in Behesht-e Zahra.