Yesterday, we reported that Iran was accusing England, Germany and the UAE of refusing to provide fuel to its passenger aircraft.
The BBC theorizes that fuel companies might be worried that their annual sales of refined petroleum products to Iran might add up to $5 million. This is the maximum value of annual sales permitted under unilateral U.S. sanctions signed by President Obama a few days ago.
The US sanction came after the UN Security Council imposed additional sanctions on Iran for its failure to halt its nuclear enrichment program.
England has said it is not aware of such a refusal, Germany that there is no ban and a spokeswoman for the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) has said that the company was continuing to refuel Iranian aircraft.
Interestingly, after first accusing the three countries mentioned above of refusing to refuel Iranian airliners, Iran is now denying such a claim.
Even more interesting, and ominous, today the BBC reports that the European Commission has banned most of Iran Air’s jet aircraft–Airbus A320, Boeing 727 and 747 aircraft (two-thirds of Iran Air’s fleet)–from flying in European Union air space because of safety concerns.
According to the Associated Press, EC Transport Commission spokeswoman Helen Kearns said that the action does not have anything to do with international sanctions. “We deal purely with safety requirements,” she said. “Our controls focus entirely on safety, nothing else.”
The ban will undoubtedly hurt the airline’s (and Iran’s) bottom line.
Sources say that the alleged refusals to refuel Iranian passenger aircraft–if confirmed–will double Iran’s aviation costs.
This would come on top of a U.S. ban on spare parts for Iranian aircraft that has already hit Iran Air’s aircraft maintenance operations.
As I wrote before,
Although some may claim–and perhaps rightly so–that such actions will hurt the Iranian people more than the government, in my opinion it may be an accumulation of such “little things” that may eventually begin to bring some sense to Iran’s leaders. But then again, we shouldn’t hold our breath.
Image: Courtesy www.airlines.nl
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.