Iran Public Company was established in 1899 with the meeting of 17 businessman from Tehran and Hadji Ali Akbar Tajer Shirazi for financial activities with a capital of One Million Toman and paying six hundred thousand Toman of this amount in the first year.
The company was established in March 1901 with permission from Ali Asghar Khan Atabek, the chancellor of Iran, and its articles of association were approved by Mozafaruddin Shah Qajar.
The main activity of this company was exchange and warehousing, which was also involved in road construction.
The construction of Astara highway to Ardabil was done by this company some time later.