1964 Joint U.S - Iranian Military Exercise

[Hakan]

Exercise Delawar: U.S. Airborne Brigade in Iran
Thread was created for informational/Historical Purposes
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"Operation Delaware," now largely forgotten, was a large military exercise held jointly by the Iranian Army and the U.S. Army in 1964. (Not to be confused with another Operation Delaware, the battle for the A Shau Valley, Vietnam, 1968.) At the time Iran was an American ally in the Middle East. The Shah of Iran was instituting some western-style reforms, and Ayatollah Khomeini had been sent into exile where he would remain until his return to establish the Islamic Republic in 1979.

"In April 1964 a joint military exercise with the United States (Operation Delaware) partially reassured Tehran of Washington's continued interest in the region. Annual military exercises continued with an increased Iranian naval component. In March 1965 the Shah publicly declared that Iran's military would in the future pay special attention to the Gulf. The Gulf was of interest to Iran both for its proximity to the rich oil fields of its southwest and for the oil-rich continental shelf that lay beneath its contested waters." (The Foreign Relations of Iran, Shahram Chubin & Sepehr Zabih, University of California Press, 1974.)

some pictures from the exercise: M606 Jeeps in Iran on The CJ3B Page



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[Thorough Pro]

During Shah's regime, Iran had very close relations with the US. In fact Iran was the only country besides USA to receive and operate F-14 Tomcats. Also Iran was the first country outside NATO to order 160 F-16's with an option of additional 140. They had actually received ground support equipment and training before the revolution in 1976, when the order was cancelled, 55 F-16 made for Iran were sold to Israel and ground support equipment transferred to Pakistan.

 

[Ostad]

@Kaan thanx for sharing.