Action of June 5, 1984

On June 5, 1984, an air battle took place near Arabi Island in the Persian Gulf. Two Iranian Air Force F-4 Phantoms from Bushehr Air Base, had intruded into Saudi airspace, setting up for an attack on oil tankers. The planes were tracked by a United States Air Force E-3 Sentry AEW&C aircraft, which directed two patrolling Saudi F-15 Eagles armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles to intercept the Iranians.^[1]

Action of June 5, 1984
Part of Iran–Iraq War, Tanker War
Date June 5, 1984 Location Arabi Island, Persian Gulf Result Saudi Arabian victory
Belligerents
Saudi Arabia	Iran
Strength
13 F-15 Eagles	13 F-4 Phantoms
Casualties and losses
None	2 F-4 Phantoms lost 2 pilots killed

The Saudis shot down one Iranian Phantom, killing 1st Lts Homayoun Hekmati & weapon systems officer Seyed Sirous Karimi. The second Iranian F-4 was damaged, and made an emergency landing at Kish Airport. The aircraft could not be repaired and was written off. This caused the Iranians to scramble 11 additional F-4s from Bushehr.

In response, the Royal Saudi Air Force scrambled 11 additional F-15s. Seeing this, the Iranians backed down, and the Saudis returned to base.^[2][3]

See also

• List of wars involving Saudi Arabia

References

1. "Saudi F15 Fighters Down 2 Iranian Jets Over Persian Gulf". The Washington Post.
2. Smith, William E."Pushing the Saudis too far". Time, 18 June 1984. Retrieved: 26 January 2008.
3. Halloran, Richard. "2 Iranian fighters reported downed by Saudi Air Force". The New York Times, 6 June 1984, p. 1. Retrieved: 26 January 2008.