Iran began acquiring the Phantom by ordering F-4Ds in 1966. Deliveries began in September 1968 and continued through late 1969.
I think the problem with the tail markings is that they are worn. I have been lead to believe that the Phantoms we see were flown by defecting Iranian pilots under some Operation called 'Night Harvest' dont know too much about it but I believe it was run by the USA ?
This F-4E was one of the three Phantoms flown by defecting Iranian pilots to Iraq in late August/early September 1986.
These defections were organized in the frame of a joint FTD/CIA operation (FTD = Foreign Technology Division of the USAF, at the times operating under the USAF Systems Command), called "Night Harvest".
Night Harvest was not limited to Iran only, but in this case it resulted with deliveries not only of Iranian Phantoms but also a single F-14A (which in turn was one of the reasons for rumours flying around about an Iranian Tomcat being delivered to the USSR).
While two other Phantoms and the single Tomcat were taken over by FTD-technicians and then flown by US pilots out to Saudi Arabia, this F-4E was found by one of the US pilots in such a poor condition (despite being flown by the IRIAF in combat only a day earlier!) that he refused to fly it out. Consequently, the plane was stripped down of all its sensitive equipment and left back in Iraq.
A McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phanton II at Tallil air base, near Nasiriya, Iraq, on 12 February 1991. This aircraft was originally delivered to Iran in 1973 (serial 3-6552 and Iranian flag are still visible). In late August/early September 1986 it was one of two F-4Es flown by defecting Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force pilots to Iraq. This was part of the covert operation “Night Harvest” by the Foreign Technology Division of the U.S. Air Force (FTD) and the CIA, initiated to find out how Iran kept aircraft serviceable that had been delivered by the U.S. The other F-4E was flown to the U.S. but this aircraft was in such poor condition that it was left in Iraq. It was destroyed by bombs during the 1991 Gulf War, but the wreck was still in a junkyard near Tallil air base in April 2003.
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