TEHRAN -- Iranian Air Force Commander Brigadier General Reza Pardis Tuesday paid tribute to the heroic deeds of the martyred prisoner of war, Abbas Doran, during the eight-year Iran-Iraq conflict. The brigadier general, Doran, who was a fighter jet pilot during the war, became a 'special martyr' of the Iranian Air Force.

General Pardis recalled with honor Doran's bravery when he flew his jet into the range of Iraqi anti-airplane artillery fire. He wanted to show that Baghdad was not safe enough to host the July 22, 1982 conference of the Non-Alignment Movement contrary to the assurances of Baghdad's officials.

Doran succeeded in entering the airspace above the site of the conference, but his aircraft later nose-dived into central Baghdad after being hit by a missile. He died in Iraqi captivity. His remains arrived on Sunday in a convoy of some 570 bodies of Iranian POWs.