Iran Air Iran Air Iran Air, branded as The Airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran (), is the flag carrier of Iran headquartered on the grounds of Mehrabad Airport in Tehran. As of 2018, it operates scheduled services to 71 destinations in Asia and Europe. Iran Air’s main bases are Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad Airport, both situated in Tehran, capital of Iran. Domestically, Iran Air is commonly known as Homa, which is the name of a mythical Persian griffin, and also the acronym of "Iran National Airlines" in the Persian language. The airline's cargo division, Iran Air Cargo, operates
Iran of the Iranians, surrounding themselves with a culture that was distinctively Iranian. By the 1500s, Ismail I of Ardabil established the Safavid Empire, with his capital at Tabriz. Beginning with Azerbaijan, he subsequently extended his authority over all of the Iranian territories, and established an intermittent Iranian hegemony over the vast relative regions, reasserting the Iranian identity within large parts of Greater Iran. Iran was predominantly Sunni, but Ismail instigated a forced conversion to the Shia branch of Islam, spreading throughout the Safavid territories in the Caucasus, Iran, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. As a result, thereof, modern-day Iran is the only