伊朗空軍飛着美國製造的F 14雄貓戰機

On April 9, 1972, Iraq and the Soviet Union signed anhistoric agreement. The USSR committed to arming the Arab republic with thelatest weaponry. In return for sending Baghdad guns, tanks and jet fighters,Moscow got just one thing?—?influence …in a region that held most of the world’s accessibleoil.

1972年4月9號，蘇聯簽署了一個歷史性的協議。蘇聯承諾向伊拉克提供最新武器。在用槍支，坦克和戰機武裝伊拉克後，莫斯科所獲得回報是——影響力。。。在一個擁有世界最多可得石油資源的地區獲得影響力。

In neighboring Iran, news of Iraq’salliance with the Soviets exploded like a bomb. Ethnically Persian andpredominately Shia, Iran was?—?and still is?—?a bitter rival of Iraq’s Sunni Arabestablishment, which during the 1970s dominated the country’s politics.

而在鄰國伊朗，伊拉克和蘇聯結盟的消息像炸彈一樣爆發。作爲波斯民族而什葉派信仰又佔絕對主體的伊朗至始至終都是作爲阿拉伯人而又信仰遜尼派的伊拉克的死敵，整個70年代這種情況一直主宰着伊朗的政治生活。

In Tehran, King Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi?—?the“shah”?—?moved quickly to counter Baghdad’s t he set loose an army of secret police in a desperate and bloody bid toquell internal dissent. And then he reached out to the United States.

在德黑蘭，國王穆罕默德-雷扎-沙-巴拉維快速採取行動應對伊拉克的舉動。首先他讓一支祕密警察部隊對國內異見進行血腥鎮壓。然後再向美國求助。

The shah wanted weapons. And not just any elf a former military pilot, the king wanted the latest and best U.S.-madewarplanes, with which the Iranian air force might dominate the Persian Gulf andeven patrol as far away as the Indian Ocean.

伊朗國王也想要武器。不是任何的武器。他本人之前是軍隊飛行員，所以他想要最新最好的美國戰機，這樣伊朗空軍纔有可能主宰波斯灣，甚至到印度洋巡邏。

The Iranian leader’s appetite for planes wasnotorious. “He’ll buy anythingthat flies,” one American official said of the Pahlavi was especially keen to acquire a fighter that could fly fast enoughand shoot far enough to confront Soviet MiG-25 Foxbat recon planes that hadbeen flying over Iran at 60,000 feet and Mach 3.

這位伊朗領導人對戰機的慾望是臭名昭著的。“他會購買任何會飛的東西，”一位美國官員這樣形容伊朗國王。但是巴拉維特別想獲得一種速度快射擊快的戰機以對抗蘇聯的米格25戰機，這種戰機已經在6萬英尺的高度以3馬赫的速度飛越伊朗。

The administration of U.S. president Richard Nixon wasall too eager to grant the shah’s wish in exchange for Iran’s help balancing a rising Soviet Union. Nixon and his nationalsecurity adviser Henry Kissinger visited Tehran in May 1972?—?and promptly offered the shah a “blankcheck.” Any weapons the king wanted and could pay for,he would get?—?regardless of the Pentagon’s own reservations and the State Department’sstringent export policies.

美國的尼克松政府也急於實現伊朗國王的願望，從而讓伊朗幫忙抵抗崛起中的蘇聯。尼克松及其國家安全顧問基辛格1972年5月訪問德黑蘭，並迅速向伊朗國王提供了一張“空頭支票”。伊朗國王想要且負擔得起的武器，都可以買到，而不用顧及五角大樓自己的保留以及美國國務院嚴格的出口政策。

That’s how, starting in the mid-1970s,Iran became the only country besides the United States to operate arguably themost powerful interceptor jet ever built?—?the GrummanF-14 Tomcat, a swing-wing carrier fighter packing a sophisticated radar andlong-range AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles.

所以從70年代中期開始，伊朗成爲了除美國之外唯一一個擁有最強大截擊機的國家，即格魯曼F14雄貓戰機，這是一款可變後掠翼艦載機，裝備有複雜的雷達和長程AIM54鳳凰空空導彈。

It’s fair to say American policymakersquickly regretted giving Iran the F-14s. In February 1979, Islamic hardlinersrose up against the shah’s police state, kidnapping 52Americans at the U.S. embassy in Tehran and ushering the return of AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini. The Islamic Revolution transformed Iran from an Americanally to one of the United States’ most vociferousenemies.

可以說美國政策制定者很快就後悔將F14戰機賣給伊朗。1979年2月，伊斯蘭強硬派起來反抗伊朗國王統治下的極權國家，在位於德黑蘭的美國大使館綁架了52名美國人並迎接霍梅尼迴歸。伊斯蘭革命將伊朗從美國盟友變成了美國最大的敵人之一。

An enemy possessing 79 of the world’smost fearsome interceptors.

一個擁有79架世界最可怕戰機的敵人。

For the next five decades, the United States would doeverything in its power?—?short of war?—?to ground the ayatollah’s Tomcats. But theAmericans failed. Through a combination of engineering ingenuity and audaciousespionage, Iran kept its F-14s in working order?—?andeven improved them. The swing-wing fighters took to the air in severalconflicts and even occasionally confronted American planes.

在接下來的50年時間裏，美國使用了一切的手段——除了戰爭——來停飛伊朗的這些先進雄貓戰機。但是失敗了。伊朗利用自己的工程技術和間諜信息讓F14繼續保持運作狀態，甚至還提升了戰機的性能。在隨後的幾次衝突中這些戰機還飛上了天，甚至有時候還和美國戰機對抗。

Today Iran’s 40 or so surviving F-14s remainsome of the best fighters in the Middle East. And since the U.S. Navy retiredits last Tomcats in 2006, the ayatollah’s Tomcats arethe only active Tomcats left in the world.

如今伊朗還有40架左右的F14雄貓戰機，這可以說是中東最好的戰機了。由於美國在2006年退役了最後一批的雄貓戰機，所以伊朗的這些雄貓戰機是世界上唯一在役的雄貓戰機了。