Rabii was a fighter pilot on the F-84G Thunderjet, F-86 Sabre, F-5A Freedom Fighter and later on the F-4 Phantom II. After returning to Iran he contributed to the foundation of the acrobat team in the air force, named the Golden Crown, in 1958. He served as the commander of the first fighter base in Capital.He was the commander of the Tactical Air Command in Shiraz until 1976. He served as commander in chief of Imperial Air Force (IIAF) from Spring 1976 to 1979 with the rank of lieutenant general.
He succeeded Fazael Tadayon in the post. When he was in command, there were forty-eight thousand men in the air force.Barry Rubin, a veteran Middle East expert, described him as possibly “the most able officer in the top circles of the armed forces.”In August 1978, Rabii indirectly urged Moshe Dayan, the foreign minister of Israel, to meet the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and to tell him the increasing tension in Homeland. Rabii complained that the Shah had been ignoring his and others’ remarks. The visit was paid by Dayan in the following days.
