Jabbar Kateb

Ret. General Jabbar Kateb was born in Sarab, Iran on July 18th, 1932, and he was a historic Iranian-American hero and figure. After finished his high school, he joined the Army and started a remarkable military career that stretched almost 4 decades off and on, receiving awards and accolades for his service because he helped to arrest drug traffickers in the State of Sistan and Baluchistan. He found the love of his life Maliheh Samsami-Shirzad and married her in 1963 in Tehran.

In 1979, he was appointed to be an Army attaché in Iraq. In that position, he was responsible for the implementation of the 1975 Algiers Agreement also known as the Algiers Accords and the Algiers Declaration, which was signed between Iran and Iraq to settle any outstanding territorial disputes between the Iran–Iraq border. This “accord” was mediated by Algeria, and it served as the basis for additional bilateral treaties signed on 13 June 1975 and 26 December 1975; in 1980, Saddam Hussain ripped the agreement at the floor of the United Nations and started a war with Iran. After Iraq lost the war in 1990, Saddam certified the Algiers Accords and was held responsible for the cost of the war.

Jabbar’s heroism continued, and in 1981, one of his military posts (Kolte in the outskirts of city of Sadrasht) in Kurdistan was attacked and surrounded by Saddam’s forces. “I understood that it would be too late to send small numbers of troops to save my soldier, so I asked the entire military base of 20,000 troops to mobilize and spread the words to the community. The news of our mobilization scared the Saddam forces who fled their positions” said Jabbar.

Jabbar was very smart and strategic. One day in the summer of 1987, while he was eavesdropping on the Iraqis troops, he heard there was an imminent attack on a city of Piranshahr where his 50,000 troops are stationed nearby. He immediately evacuated his troops to a nearby mountain. The day after the evacuation, Saddam’s airplanes dropped 500 bombs, a 2-ton bunker buster aimed at his bunker and launched 400 rockets that destroyed the base completely to the ground but miraculously, there was no casualty because of his timely, strategic decision to evacuate his troops.

After retirement, Jabbar started a series of business including dairy product manufacturing and plastic manufacturing but soon migrated his entire family to the USA. He always appreciated the soldiers and encouraged the formation of World Brain Mapping Foundation helping wounded soldiers and veterans in the United Stated when the war in Iraq and Afghanistan started. Jabbar wholeheartedly invested in his children’s education and success in life. Jabbar was a remarkable writer, knew world history very well, and was a great speaker. “My superior officers always would send me to give speeches and rally the troops because I could come up with historical examples on the spot without preparation” said Jabbar.

Jabbar was a wrestler and swimmer who loved the game of backgammon, was a history buff and an avid reader and had a large library in his house. He was extremely knowledgeable about the geo-politics of the Middle East and world history. He helped his immediate family and extended relatives to be educated. Jabbar was a humble, accomplished, hardworking, family man. He adored his family including his wife, his daughter and sons, daughters-in-laws, grandchildren who are all educated and successful in their own professional careers. He passed peacefully on his 92nd birthday surrounded by his family and friends, soon after they sang the Happy Birthday song for him. Jabbar’s wisdom, heroism, and love will always remain with all of us.

A celebration of life for Jabbar will be held Friday, August 2, 2024 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks-Griffin Memorial Park, Mortuary & Crematory, 5600 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village, CA 91362. Following the celebration of life will be a graveside service from 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park, 5600 Lindero Canyon Rd, Westlake Village, CA 91362.

Click the link below to be sent to the Memorial Page for Jabbar Kateb by his loving son Dr. Babak Kateb from the Society of World Brain Mapping and Therapeutics.

https://sites.google.com/worldbrainmapping.org/mrjabbarkateb/home