The Iranian raid on Iraq was planned March 20, according to a captured Iranian pilot

 Agence France Presse

April 9, 1992

TRANSLATION:

Baghdad, April 9 (AFP) - The Iranian raid Sunday against one of the bases of the Iranian opposition army in Iraq was planned initially on March 20, but canceled "at the last minute," said the pilot of an Iranian F-4 taken prisoner by the Iraqis.

In a statement made the night of Wednesday to Thursday to Baghdad television, the pilot, Qassem Amini, did not specify the reasons for this report. He was captured with his co-pilot when his aircraft, which took part in a raid against a position of the People's Mojahedin, was hit by Iraqi DCA anti-aircraft batteries.

Qassem Amini added that nine F-4 aircraft participated in the bombardment. The co-pilot, Arsalan Sharifi, also confirmed these statements on television.

The official Iraqi news agency, INA, has indicated that the raid was led by 8 F-4s. A Mojahedin combatant was killed and 12 others wounded in the operation, the organization said.

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