page_title: History of the Iranian Air Force
section_title: Imperial era
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Iranian Air Force / Imperial era
caption_attribution_description: English: The First F-4D Phantom II Tactical Squadron based at Shiraz, 7th Tactical Fighter Base in 1971
context_page_description: The history of the Iranian Air Force can be divided into two phases—before the Islamic Revolution, and after it.
context_section_description: The Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was a branch of the Imperial Iranian Armed Forces and was established by Reza Shah, the Shah of Iran, in 1920. It became operational with its first fully trained pilots on February 25, 1925. 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 a World War I treaty. Until World War II, the IIAF's aircraft inventory consisted entirely of European aircraft, mainly British and German. However, following a co-ordinated British and Soviet invasion of Iran during World War II in retaliation for 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 invading Soviets and British. A few Iranian planes did manage to get airborne during the invasion and engaged the Royal Air Force in unsuccessful dogfights.
  A roughly 1946 order of battle for the Air Force can be found in Jane'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 the United States and Great Britain. A national, aerobatic display team was formed in 1958. Called "Golden Crown", and a part of the IIAF, this lasted until 1978. Lieutenant General Nader Jahanbani is credited to establish the Golden Crown and generally considered as the "Father of IIAF".  In the 1960s, the IIAF acquired 90 Canadair Sabre fighters from the RCAF, but they were flipped over to the Pakistan 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 former-Soviet Union. This was in two parts, known as Project Dark Gene and Project Ibex.
  The IIAF deployed aircraft to Oman in the 1970s, when Iran provided military assistance to that country, during the Dhofar rebellion. During this conflict, one Iranian F-4 Phantom II was shot down by rebels.
  In 1976, the Imperial Iranian Air Force responded to a UFO incident over the Iranian capital, Tehran.
  Later in the 1970s, the IIAF became the only military force other than the United States Navy to be equipped with the F-14 Tomcat. Consequently, it also became the only other operator of the AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missile. After the 1979 Iranian revolution, some of these planes were not in working order due to a lack of necessary spare parts, because of an American arms embargo and damage sustained on the aircraft during the Iraqi invasion (Iran–Iraq War). Some were brought back into service, due to localised 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).
  During this era, the United States instituted the "Spellout", "Peace Ruby" and "Peace Net" programmes to improve/upgrade, the air-defence system of Iran. As well as air defence radars, the network was linked using microwave LOS and troposcatter communications networks.
  The IIAF had also placed an order for over 150 F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft in 1976, but deliveries were never made, due to the overthrow of the Shah by Ayatollah Khomeni in the revolution. These aircraft would go on to serve in the Israeli Air Force.
caption: The first F-4D Phantom II squadron of Iran, 1971.
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