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| Iranian Air Force |
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TheHistory of the Iranian Air Force, currently known as theIslamic Republic of Iran Air Force, can be divided into two phases—before theIslamic Revolution, and after it.
| Imperial Iranian Air Force | |
|---|---|
 The logo of the Iranian Air Force | |
| Founded | February 25, 1925 |
| Disbanded | 11 February 1979 |
| Country |  Imperial State of Iran |
| Allegiance | Shah of Iran |
| Type | Air force |
| Role | Aerial warfare |
| Size | 100,000 (1979) |
| Motto | The High Sky Is My Place |
| Aircraft | 450 moderncombat aircraft (1978) |
| Engagements | Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran Battle of Nalos (1947) Dhofar War Joint Operation Arvand 1974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict |
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief | Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi |
| Commander | Lt GenAmir Hossein Rabii (last) |
| Deputy Commander | Lt GenShapour Azarbarzin (last) |
| Coordinating Deputy Commander | Brig Gen Fereydoun Mahdavi (last) |
| Insignia | |
| Roundel | |
| Fin flash | .svg) |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | F-4 Phantom IIF-5 Tiger II |
| Helicopter | CH-47 Chinook214 Isfahan |
| Interceptor | F-14 Tomcat |
| Patrol | P-3 Orion |
| Reconnaissance | RF-4 Phantom IIRF-5 |
| Transport | C-130 Hercules747 |
| Tanker | KC-707KC-747 |
The Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was a branch of theImperial Iranian Armed Forces and was established byReza Shah, theShah of Iran, in the early 1920s.[citation needed] It officially became operational with its first fully trained pilots on February 25, 1925.[citation needed] Iran's first attempt to procure aircraft from the United States in the 1920s failed due to Washington's refusal to supply equipment because of aWorld War I[which?] treaty.[1] UntilWorld War II, the IIAF's aircraft inventory consisted entirely of Western European aircraft, mainly British and German. However, following a coordinatedBritish andSovietinvasion of Iran during World War II in response to Reza Shah's declaration of neutrality, the IIAF's bases were occupied by the Allies and all existing IIAF aircraft were either destroyed or dismantled by the Soviet and British military. A few Iranian planes did manage to get airborne during the invasion and engaged theRoyal Air Force (RAF) indogfights, in which the RAF emerged victorious.[citation needed]
A roughly 1946 order of battle for the Air Force can be found inJane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. Two regiments were both reported to be based near Tehran. After World War II, the IIAF began to slowly rebuild its inventory, with aircraft mainly supplied by theUnited States and Great Britain. A national, aerobatic display team was formed in 1958. Called "Golden Crown", and a part of the IIAF, this lasted until1979.[2] Lieutenant generalNader Jahanbani is credited with establishing the Golden Crown and is generally considered the "Father of IIAF".
In the 1960s, the IIAF acquired 90Canadair Sabre fighters from theRCAF, but they were flipped over to thePakistan Air Force.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the air force was used as part of a joint, aerial espionage programme of Iran and the United States, against the Soviet Union. This was in two parts, known asProject Dark Gene and Project Ibex.[3]
The IIAF deployed aircraft toOman in the 1970s, when Iran provided military assistance to that country, during theDhofar rebellion. During this conflict, one IranianF-4 Phantom II was shot down by rebels.
In 1976, the Imperial Iranian Air Force responded to aUFO incident over the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Later in the 1970s, the IIAF became the only military force other than theUnited States Navy to be equipped with theF-14 Tomcat. Consequently, it also became the only other operator of theAIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missile.
During this era, the United States instituted the "Spellout", "Peace Ruby" and "Peace Net" programmes to upgrade the air-defence system of Iran. As well as air defence radars, the network was linked using microwave and troposcatter communications networks.
After the 1979Iranian revolution, some of the IIAF's F-14s were not in working order due to a lack of necessary spare parts, because of an American arms embargo and damage sustained by the aircraft during the1980 Iraqi invasion. Some were brought back into service, through localized production of reverse-engineered, Iranian-made, spare parts, as well as "cannibalism", the process of taking working parts from damaged aircraft and using them to repair others. The IIAF had also placed an order for over 150F-16 Fighting Falconfighter aircraft in 1976, but deliveries were never made due to the revolution. These aircraft would go on to serve in theIsraeli Air Force. The IIAF had placed another order for 250F-18L Hornet fighters in 1976, but the revolution caused all potential deliveries of the F-18L to be canceled.[4]
The overthrow of the Shah in the Islamic Revolution of February 1979, was followed by changes to the organization of the Iranian military. The air force was renamed theIslamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF), and largely inherited the equipment and structure of the former IIAF. Due to strained relations with the west, Iran had to procure new equipment fromBrazil, the Soviet Union/Russia and thePeople's Republic of China.
However, it lost most of its leading officers in the course of post-revolutionary chaos, as well as due to the prosecution of those considered as loyal to the Shah, pro-U.S. or elsewhere by the new government in Tehran. Its other personnel were also decimated by the purges, with many pilots removed or leaving the air force. This left the air force ill-prepared for theIran–Iraq War.
A series of purges and forced retirements, as a consequence of the1979 Iranian Revolution, resulted in the manpower of the service being halved between February 1979 and July 1980, leaving the IRIAF ill-prepared for the Iran–Iraq War (also called the "1st Persian Gulf War"). The sudden Iraqi air strikes against six Iranian airfields and four other military installations, launched on the afternoon of 22 September 1980, came as a complete surprise and caused a shock in the renamed "IRIAF", which was in the midst of reorganizing following the Iranian revolution which had ended one year earlier. Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force retaliated, flying strikes involving up to 146 fighter-bombers against Iraqi airfields, oil industry installations, and communications sites. In addition tostriking Iraqi airfields, the IRIAF succeeded in damaging Iraqi oil-producing and exporting facilities; resulting in Baghdad's decision to stop all oil exports for several years.
Following a one-week-long counter-air campaign, and due to a critical situation on the ground in Khuzestan Province, the IRIAF was thrown into the land-battle, mainly in the areas of Khorramshahr, Ahvaz, and Dezful. Here, the IRIAF's performance surprised most informed observers, with air strikes against armour and supply columns. Due to heavy losses in troops and armour, Iranian air superiority and an interruption of supply systems, the Iraqis had to stop their offensive, and then became involved in extremely bitter land-battles against Iranian ground forces.
However, the IRIAF paid a heavy price for this success, losing dozens of its best pilots and aircraft in the period between September and December 1980. Although the readiness rates of the IRIAF significantly increased in the following months, its overall role and influence declined, as the clerical government searched to put the emphasis in fighting on theIslamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) militias, but also attempted to develop a separate air arm for this service.
After the successful liberation of most Iranian areas captured by the Iraqis, in late spring 1982, the situation of the IRIAF changed completely. From an air arm that was offensive by nature, it was largely relegated to air defense and, relatively seldom, tasks of flying bombing attacks against targets of industrial and military significance inside Iraq. Simultaneously, the IRIAF had to learn to maintain and keep operational its large fleet of U.S.-built aircraft and helicopters without outside help, due to American sanctions. Reaching back on equipment purchased from the U.S.A. in the 1970s, the Iranians began establishing their own aerospace industry; their efforts in this remained largely unrecognized until recently.
However, the IRIAF was able to obtain limited amounts of spare parts and weapons for its American-made aircraft, when Iran was able to buy American spare parts and weapons for its armed forces, during theIran–Contra affair. Deliveries came via Israel and later, from the USA.
From 1984 and 1985, the IRIAF found itself confronted by an ever-better organized and equipped opponent, as the Iraqi Air force—reinforced by deliveries of advanced fighter-bombers from France and the Soviet Union—launched numerous offensives against Iranian population centres, industrial infrastructures, powerplants, and oil-export hubs. These became better known as "The Tanker War" and "The War of the Cities". To defend against an increasing number of Iraqi air strikes, the IRIAF leaned heavily on its large fleet of F-14 Tomcat air superiority fighters. Tomcats were mainly deployed in defense of the strategically important Kharg Island (main hub for Iranian oil exports), and Tehran. Over 300 air-to-air engagements against IQAF fighters, fighter-bombers, and bombers, were fought in these areas alone between 1980 and 1988.
Confronted with the fact that it could not obtain replacements for equipment lost in what became a war of attrition against Iraq, for the rest of the conflict, the IRIAF remained defence-orientated, conserving its surviving assets as a "force in being". From mid-1987, the IRIAF found itself confronted also with U.S. Navy fighters over the Persian Gulf. A number of confrontations that occurred between July 1987 and August 1988, stretched available IRIAF assets to the limit, exhausting its capability to defend Iranian airspace against Iraqi air strikes.
Immediately after the end of the Iran–Iraq War, the IRIAF was partially re-built by limited purchases ofMiG-29 fighters andSu-24 bombers from the Soviet Union, as well asF-7M and FT-7 fighters from China. While a welcome reinforcement, these types never replaced the older, U.S.-built F-4 Phantoms or F-14 Tomcats (now the only air arm in the world to continue using the fighter), or evenNorthrop F-5 Tiger IIs. Instead, the IRIAF continued efforts to maintain these types in service, and began a number of projects with the intention to refurbish and upgrade them.
A Russian attempt to sell a large number ofMiG-27s,MiG-31s, and TupolevTu-22Ms to Iran, launched in 1993, was spoiled by a lack of interest and money on the part of Iran.
Following an alleged agreement (no actual proof exists for it) between the regimes in Baghdad and Tehran, in February 1991 a significant number ofIraqi Air Force (IrAF) aircraft were evacuated to Iranian airfields, to avoid destruction in the 1991 PersianGulf War. The agreement was for Iran to return them after the war, but the Iranians impounded these aircraft instead, claiming them aswar reparations for the Iran–Iraq War.
The IRIAF has pressed into service all of the 36Su-24MKs, 7SU-25s and 24Mirage F.1BQs and F.1EQs flown from Iraq, while all the other types—including 40Su-20/22s and at least tenMiG-23s of various versions—were stored.
The exact current composition of the IRIAF is hard to determine, butestimates do exist. Due to the continuous spare parts shortages faced by the air force, a decision was made in the late 1980s to develop a local aerospace industry to support the air force.
In 2002, Iran with the co-operation ofUkraine, successfully started the manufacture of the Iran-140; a licence-built version of theAntonov An-140 transport aircraft. Simultaneously, Iran began construction of two 100% domestically produced fighters, upgraded using technology from the F-14 Tomcat and theF-5 Tiger II. The fighters have been named theAzarakhsh and theShafaq.
Since then the country has also become self-sufficient in the manufacture of helicopters. The country claims that it is capable of producing the old U.S.AH-1 Cobra gunship. Additionally, Iran also producesBell HelicopterBell 212 andBell 206helicopters in serial production. These are known respectively as theShabaviz 2-75 and theShabaviz 206.
Due to its obsolete equipment, the IRIAF proved to be totally incompetent during the 2025Iran–Israel War, with no sign of its ageing fighter jets even getting off the ground, giving theIsraeli Air Force control over the skies of Iran, which led to the elimination of various targets across the country.[5]
Unlike many other nations with modern air forces, Iran was engaged in an intense and protracted war. The 8 year long conflict withIraq gave the IRIAF the opportunity to develop some battle-tested and hardened fighter pilots. Though information about the IRIAF is, at best, hard to access, two men stand out as the best Iranianfighter aces.
Jalil Zandi is Iran's most successfulfighter pilot. Flying the F-14 Tomcat he claimed 11 aerial victories, with 8 of those being confirmed by western sources.[6] These include 4 MiG-23s, 2Su-22s, 2MiG 21 and 3Mirage F1s.[7] These totals make him the most successful Iranian fighter pilot, the most successful F-14 Tomcat pilot, and the most recent (and last man) to claim ace status.
Yadollah Javadpour flew the F-5 and claimed five Iraqi aircraft shot down; two being reliably confirmed.[8] This makes him an ace and the most successful F-5 fighter pilot, but his greatest claim to fame happened on August 6, 1983 when he shot down an IraqiMiG-25. This was a significant achievement for an F-5 pilot, as the MiG-25 is a much bigger and faster aircraft with a substantial altitude advantage. His other confirmed kill was anSu-20 on October 17, 1980.[9]
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