Sepahbod Nader Jahanbani was an Iranian general, distinguished fighter pilot of Imperial Iranian Air Force (IIAF) and the deputy chief of the IIAF under Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Despite being executed in 1979 by Islamic Revolutionaries, he is widely lauded as the "father of the Iranian Air Force" along with General Mohammad Khatami and General Amir Hossein Rabii, for modernizing the air force to become a potent and powerful force whose advanced equipment and training they acquired for Iran, such as the F-14 Tomcat, would save Iran's crucial infrastructure during the Iran–Iraq War. He was the leader of the Golden Crown, the first and national aerobatics display Iranian team. He is nicknamed the "blue eyed general of Iran". By many accounts, he is considered one of the best and most capable pilots of his time.

The history of the Iranian Air Force, currently known as the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, can be divided into two phases—before the Islamic Revolution, and after it.