Chit-chatted with some rather friendly aircraft maintenance engineers from a certain Iranian national airline before, there were quite proud of the fact that they are able to maintain their 30 to 40 years old fleet of Boeing 747 without any authorised OEM spares (copious amounts of aluminium tape and epoxy adhesive was utilised or so I was told) and even engage in some limited aircraft modifications though I am unaware if the United States and European Union sanctions against Iran has since been lifted. :bsmilie:
That said, Iran does have a rather independent, self-reliant aerospace industry.
