IRNA � While women are not entitled to driving cars and voting in certain regional countries, an Iranian woman Farzaneh Sharafbafi has officially taken charge of the country's flag carrier airline company.


Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi displayed the value of Iranian expert women to the world once again by appointing a woman as head of Iran Air, underlining that he strongly believes in equality of men and women in various cultural, economic and political spheres.

The main yardstick for picking up Sharafbafi as the chief of the biggest Iranian airline was her professional and managerial capabilities.

Sharafbafi, 44, holds PhD in aerospace from Sharif University of Technology.

She is the top researcher of the Roads and Urban Development Ministry who has presented various articles in the international level.

Iran Air (Homa) is the oldest airline in the Middle East operating flights to 56 countries.

Iran Air currently holds 55 airplanes and it will take delivery of 200 planes under the agreement signed recently between the flag carrier and Airbus, Boeing and ATR, seven of which have already been delivered to the company.