A model for a continuous‐wave (CW) iodine laser has been developed and compared with the experimental results obtained from a solar‐simulator‐pumped CW iodine laser. The agreement between the calculated laser power output and the experimental results is generally good for various laser parameters even when the model includes only prominent rate coefficients. The flow velocity dependence of the output power shows that the CW iodine laser cannot be achieved with a flow velocity below 1 m/s for the present solar‐simulator‐pumped CW iodine laser system.