| Mostafa Roustaei | |
| Allegiance: | Iran |
| Branch: |
|
| Serviceyears: | 1970–2000 |
| Rank: | Colonel |
| Battles: | Iran–Iraq War |
Mostafa Roustaei (Persian: مصطفی روستایی) is an Iranian amateur astronomer and retired fighter pilot who flew with Grumman F-14 Tomcat during the Iran–Iraq War. French military historian Pierre Razoux has credited him with 5 aerial victories, a record that qualifies him as a flying ace.
Roustaei was hired by the IIAF in 1970 and after 30 years of service, he was retired with the rank of colonel. He served for some time as the chief operations officer of the 6th Tactical Fighter Base. A U.S. trained pilot, he graduated from the AETC course at Laughlin Air Force Base in 1974. He was subsequently certified with F-4D/E Phantom II, an aircraft he flew for 2200 hours before switching to F-14 Tomcat. He flew a further 2086 hours with the latter.[1]
See also: List of Iranian aerial victories during the Iran–Iraq war. According to aviation author Kash Ryan, Roustaei's aerial victories verified by his logbooks and corroborated with other accounts include four using AIM-54 Phoenix missiles and one maneuver kill, against two MiG-23s, a MiG-21 and a pair of Dassault Mirage F1s. The details are as follows:[1]
| Date | Aircraft serial | Weapon | Victim | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 January 1981 | 3-6027 | Capt. A. Jalal-Abadi | AIM-54A | MiG-23 | |
| 2 | 5 October 1981 | 3-6036 | 1Lt. Ahmad R. Fereydouni | AIM-54A | MiG-23 | |
| 3 | 26 October 1982 | 3-6078 | 1Lt. Reza Tahmasbi | None | MiG-21 | |
| 4 | 7 August 1984 | 3-6055 | Capt. Hossein Sayyari | AIM-54A | Mirage F-1EQ | |
| 5 | 7 August 1984 | 3-6055 | Capt. Hossein Sayyari | AIM-54A | Mirage F-1EQ |