Post-Islamic Revolution
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 the Islamic 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 from Brazil, the Soviet Union/Russia and the People'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 was also decimated by the purges, with many pilots removed or leaving the air force. This left the air force ill prepared for the Iran–Iraq War.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Iranian Air Force
Famous quotes containing the word revolution:
“In comparison to the French Revolution, the American Revolution has come to seem a parochial and rather dull event. This, despite the fact that the American Revolution was successful—realizing the purposes of the revolutionaries and establishing a durable political regime—while the French Revolution was a resounding failure, devouring its own children and leading to an imperial despotism, followed by an eventual restoration of the monarchy.”
—Irving Kristol (b. 1920)