The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) (Persian: نیروی هوایی ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران) is the aviation branch of the Iranian armed forces. The IRIAF came into being when the former Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) was re-named following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, in February 1979. This "new" Iranian air force largely inherited the equipment and structure of the former IIAF, even losing 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. Due to strained relations with the west, Iran had to procure new equipment from Brazil, Russia and the People's Republic of China. Since the Revolution, the exact composition of the IRIAF is hard to determine, but estimates do exist. Many aircraft belonging to the Iraqi Air Force took refuge in Iran during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and many were put...