Touraj Dehghani Zanganeh, who replaces Farzaneh Sharafbafi, was formerly the managing director for Meraj Air, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Iran needs to upgrade its ageing passenger fleet and is seeking to avert U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

The U.S. Treasury has revoked licences for Boeing Co and Airbus to sell passenger jets to Iran after President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement last year and reimposed sanctions.

(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh, editing by Louise Heavens)