I just don’t believe that there is any way they are flying them without access to US spare parts.
No way.
“I just don’t believe that there is any way they are flying them without access to US spare parts.”
I agree. Also considering the Iran-Iraq 8 yr ongoing war from 1980 to 1988, after the Shah was deposed. The mullahs regime used most of the resources it had from the Shah’s era against Saddam’s forces.
The other issue is that of pilots being able to fly a F-14 tomcat. For one, when Islamists took over Iran in 1979-80, they executed around 80% of the Shah’s military personnel & government officials; those who were not able to escape from Iran at the time. Thereafter, leaving a very small number, who were either pro-Khomeini, or too unskilled and insignificant to execute.
No way.
I think there were a lot of illegal spares shipments going on. This 2007 WaPo article describes the problem -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/21/AR2007012100760.html