Iran’s Mahan Air has strenuously denied accusations that it ferried members of Hezbollah and the Iranain special Quds Force across the Middle East on a mission to assassinate the Saudi envoy to the US, leading to sanctions on the carrier.
In a statement, international route analyst Fariba Bayati, said the decision by the Department of the Treasury to impose sanctions and freeze the airline’s US assets was a method to “exert additional political pressure” on Iran and would “have a direct adverse effect on the safety and security of the people of Iran.”
Bayati said the airline was a privately owned civilian company which belonged to the Mol-Al Movahedin Charity Institute and did not have any links to any governmental, political or military bodies.
The sanctions against Mahan were imposed a day after US authorities announced they had foiled a conspiracy to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir, a development that has escalated tensions between the two countries.
Referring to the spate of air crashes that have occured in Iran since santions were imposed by the US followng the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Bayati said the airline would use its resources to overcome the sanctions and would now seek out a “competent international body” to defend its reputation.