Iran Air, branded as The Airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: هواپیمايی جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎‎ Havâpeymâyiye Jomhuriye Eslâmiye Irân), is the flag carrier airline of Iran and the oldest airline in the Middle East. Its main bases are the Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport for international flights and Tehran Mehrabad Airport for domestic flights . It is headquartered on the grounds of Mehrabad Airport in Tehran. The airline has a subsidiary for cargo services, called Iran Air Cargo, that operates scheduled and charter services. Iran Air transports 6 million passengers annually.

Iran Air is also referred to by its pre-revolution Persian acronym, Homa (Havâpeymâyiye Melliye Irân), which is also the name of a mythical Persian griffin, Homa.

In May 1944 Iranian Airways was founded at the initiative of business leader and politician Reza Afshar, in partnership with Gholam Hossein Ebtehaj. Not long after its formation, Afshar, who had previously formed Iran Tour (the first Iranian travel and tour agency) and Mehrabad Airport, became the sole owner of the private company.

Iranian Airways flew its first passenger flight after World War II from Tehran to Mashhad, followed by Esfahan, Shiraz, Bushehr, and Zahedan. In 1946 the airline established service to Cairo, Baghdad and Tel Aviv, and in April 1947, to Paris. Within a period of 17 years, from 1945 to 1962, the airline developed into a major domestic carrier with a few international flights per week. Operations covered domestic and regional passenger and freight services plus a weekly freight service to Europe. The fleet consisted of Douglas DC-3s initially, supplemented by Douglas DC-4 and Vickers Viscount aircraft later on.

In 1954, the privately owned airline Persian Air Services (PAS) was established by Ahmad Shafiq. PAS initially operated only freight services, followed by passenger operations between Tehran and other major cities in Iran. In 1960, PAS initiated service to several European destinations, including Geneva, Paris, Brussels and London, using Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-7 aircraft leased from Sabena.

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