An AWS IAM Role is an identity within Amazon Web Services (AWS) that has specific permissions assigned to it. Unlike a user, an IAM Role is not associated with a single person; instead, it can be assumed by trusted entities such as users, applications, or services. This allows for temporary access to AWS resources without sharing long-term credentials. IAM Roles are commonly used to grant permissions to applications running on EC2 instances, allow cross-account access, or enable AWS services to interact securely. By using roles, organizations can implement the principle of least privilege and improve the security of their cloud environments.