Monday, July 5, 2010

Airports Ban Refueling by Iranian Planes - UPDATE

Iran’s air transport officials are reporting that since last week airports in Britain, Germany, UAE and Kuwait have refused to refuel Iranian passenger planes.

"Since last week, after the passing of the unilateral law by America and the sanctions against Iran, airports in England, Germany, the UAE have refused to give fuel to Iranian planes," said Mehdi Aliyari, secretary of Iranian Airlines Union [ISNA, 5 July].

IRNA had earlier reported the ban on refueling in Kuwait. Iran Air and Mahan Air are the two airlines with extensive regional and European flights which have been hit hard by the move.

UPDATE: The government spokesmen for Britain, Germany and UAE have denied the reports published by Iranian news agencies ISNA and IRNA that their airports have banned refueling Iranian passenger planes.

UPDATE II: Despite denial by government sources in Europe and the UAE, the Iranian news agencies are still keeping the news of refueling ban on their top pages.

UPDATE III. The oil companies, like the BP in Britain, are the ones who are refusing to refuel Iranian planes. A BP spokesman was quoted by the Times of London as saying: "We fully comply with any international sanctions imposed in countries where we operate."

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iran is being Punished for something they dont have, so they might as well go for it and make the bloody thing.

Test it on the UAE. :)

Bless Iran and these things are too little to bother so Iran can fly to other destinations and use as transit.

Or, are the USA suggesting Iran go on their knees because the middle class in Iran will have to pay double to go for their beach holiday in Europe.

Take it easy and make a clever move Iran.

Anonymous said...

The majority who voted for Ahmadinejad use buses , its the middle and upper middle class who are being hit. They can afford to pay 50% more to reach their destinations.

Anonymous said...

They can not keep it up, its not legal and its gonna cost a lot. imagine the legal costs for the airports by eventual damages.

Its a message to Iran and the UAE klnows the Franch navy can not defend them against occasional Iranian stings that could drive up their insurance costs and bring down their real estate costs.

I dunno, but this move was pretty stupid. I agree with the above anons on the middle class people of Iran being punished.

Anonymous said...

These Arab pimpdoms just follow orders from their masters. Iran should quit being strangled slowly and just go nuclear ASAP. The longer the suspense the more of these pathetic tactics to choke Iran.

The US is hell-bent on suicidal wars and may choose to go for broke and attack Iran. What Iran needs is a a proactive defence/offensive policy from Afghanistan to the Persian Gulf.

The US is not as strong as they think, particularly the morass in Af-Pak and Iraq. American economy is at the verge of collapse and a global disruption of oil, trade and energy insecurity will only expedite US collapse.

Any attack on Iran will lead to a regional, if not global war and would not be over in as few weeks as CENTCOM strategy wishfully hopes. US will have to occupy Iran and then face decades of asymettrical warfare in the region. This time the Iranian resistance will have more than AKs, RPG's and IED's the US has so far faced in the region.

Iranians don't have a recent history of colonialism or foreign occupation, so a US invasion and brutal occupation of Iran will be hard to swallow, particulrly in the 300 million strong Shia world.

This insane neo-con Zionist policy of pushing Iran in a corner will backfire and the repercussions will be totally unpredictable. Occupying an ancient nation of 75 million people with a landmass of over 1.64 million square kms and a well developed national identity is no mean feat.

Anonymous said...

It turns out it is not exactly true, and the Europeans have give Iran fuel and claim there will be no problems in this area.

Dariush London

Anonymous said...

Thanks Dariush, I also checked and both UK and German governments are denying it too. This looks more like US/Zionist psy-ops to panic the Iranian population. Quite pathetic really.

Britain said it was not aware of any refusal to refuel Iranian planes, and Germany stressed there was no ban.

Oil firms contacted by the BBC said they could not comment on individual contracts.

Nader Uskowi said...

Anon 1:52 PM,

The report on Germany, Britain and UAE was based on the declaration by an Iranian official quoted by an Iranian news agency. The report on Kuwait was by the official Iranian news agency, IRNA. It is hard to believe that the Iranian official and the news agency are part of the psyop, but we have seen stranger things!

Anonymous said...

Germany and Dubai deny this news.
I believe The Company BP may refuse to fuel Iranian plane.

They can buy creosin by other company.

Anonymous said...

it is not to far for iran to flax his muscle to world in the persian gulf area that would be comming sooner than later and most of them would be UAE will be accupied by iranian forces very soon this bloody s/ country thinks own everythings dispide of 60% of iran money invested in that country that why from last year until now they are facing bankrucy from 18 bld anually in lat 2 years ago at this staged only 5 blsd so why should iran give any more cridet to some country do not apriciated let spend 300 bellion in iran then UAE unless iran plan to take uae as part of his provence to distroy usa forces and take countrol of intire area.

Anonymous said...

I don´t understand the UAE policies about Iran. What they believe they are doing? this small country cannot play with Iran.

UAE has not chances to challenge Iran.

It is dangerous for them.I don´t understand it.

Anonymous said...

There is too much smoke around this whole story. I think the true picture will emerge in a few days. There is no doubt that the US and its stooges will try to exert full pressure on Iran. However, I don't think it will have much impact on Iranian policy, if any it will only harden Iran's stance.

Anonymous said...

Heshmatollah Falahat-Pisheh, a lawmaker and member of Iranian parliament's committee on foreign policy and national security, warned of retaliatory action by Tehran, especially towards the United Arab Emirates.

"Despite US claims that the sanctions are smart and aimed at preventing nuclear and missile development, we see these sanctions targeting Iran's development ... and seeking to hurt ... Iranians," he told ISNA.

"We should definitely do the same thing to the Emirates, Britain and Germany whose planes need to be refuelled in Iran."

Hitting out at the UAE he said: "UAE's cooperation with US should be noted ... if Iran's development or security are harmed, then no countries in the region can have sustainable security."

A UAE civil aviation spokesman, contacted by AFP, said he "had no information" about the reports that Iranian planes had been refused fuel.

And in Germany, the transport ministry said in a statement that neither US nor United Nations sanctions covered the refuelling of Iranian passenger planes, without a specific reaction to the Iranian reports.

Nader Uskowi said...

ISNA is still keeping the original report on refueling ban as its priority item on top of its main page.

Anonymous said...

@ Nader. Yes you are correct. BBC and many US media are reporting the same. I guess we will have to see in a few days if this is for real and does indeed ground Iran Air and Mahan. They seem to the two most impacted.

Nader Uskowi said...

The major oil companies, such as BP in Britain, who are refusing to refuel Iranian planes. As a result, Iran Air and Mahan need to carry enough fuel for round trip from Tehran, or make additional stops to refuel at locations that still sells them jet fuel, both very expensive alternatives for the airlines.

Notwithstanding the official declarations by the Iranian government, the new sanctions can have profound effect on Iran.

Anonymous said...

Hard to tell what's happening, at this point. We'll know in the coming days.

A thought: might be a calculated PR move by BP. They desperately need to take the heat off for the spill. The calculation being, in a popular sense, turning off service to Iran might be seen favorably in the US.

TMLutas said...

How embarrassing for the Iranian official to falsely accuse the airport authorities. Is IRNA going to apologize or show themselves as amateurs?

Anonymous said...

This whole issue is getting murkier by the day. The BBC and few European media are now reporting a blanket ban on Iran Air flights to EU.

Most Iran Air jets banned from Europe
BRUSSELS - The European Union on Tuesday banned most of Iran Air's jets from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, emphasizing that the move was not related to UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

The 27-member bloc also relaxed restrictions on two airlines from Indonesia and put a Suriname airline on its blacklist of carriers the EU believes do not meet international safety standards.

The list of 278 airlines — mostly small operations from Africa and Asia — was established in 2006 and is updated regularly.

Iran Air's Boeing 727s and 747s, along with its Airbus 320s, have been placed on the EU blacklist following a safety audit, Transport Commission spokeswoman Helen Kearns said.

But Kearns denied that the move, which affects two-thirds of Iran Air's fleet, had anything to do with international sanctions.

We deal purely with safety requirements," she said. "Our controls focus entirely on safety, nothing else."

Iran Air has had trouble properly maintaining its aging Boeing 747 and 727 jets purchased in the 1970s because of a 30-year-old U.S. ban on spare parts.

The airline — together with a cargo and a low-cost subsidiary — has more than 60 planes in its inventory. Plans call for many of its older airliners still in service to be replaced by Russian-built Tu-204 medium-range jets starting in 2011.

Iran Air flies to about 60 destinations, mainly in Asia and Europe. Its extensive domestic network covers nearly two dozen airports.

Kearns said two more Indonesian carriers, Metro Batavia and Indonesia Air Asia, have been removed from the latest list of banned airlines, bringing to six the number of Indonesian airlines allowed to operate in Europe.

Three years ago, after a spate of deadly crashes, all Indonesian airlines were excluded from European airspace.

Kearns said Suriname's Blue Wings Airlines has also been placed on the revised blacklist. Although the airline does not fly to Europe, it has routes to the Dutch Antilles and French Guiana.

Critics of the list say most of the notorious African fly-by-night cargo outfits still on the EU list have long since been shut down. Many of the others involve air taxi services or small, specialized charter firms that work for mining, oil and gas and other natural resources companies, usually to transport employees to remote work sites.

The crash last month in Cameroon of a chartered plane carrying the entire board of an Australian mining company highlighted the lack of uniform safety standards among the multitude of small aviation operators serving the industry.

Anonymous said...

This whole issue is getting confusing. Now some of the least reliable Canadian media is reporting a blanket ban on Iran Air in EU nations.

Most Iran Air jets banned from Europe

BRUSSELS - The European Union on Tuesday banned most of Iran Air's jets from flying to Europe because of safety concerns, emphasizing that the move was not related to UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

The 27-member bloc also relaxed restrictions on two airlines from Indonesia and put a Suriname airline on its blacklist of carriers the EU believes do not meet international safety standards.
Iran Air's Boeing 727s and 747s, along with its Airbus 320s, have been placed on the EU blacklist following a safety audit, Transport Commission spokeswoman Helen Kearns said.


thecanadianpress.com, Updated: July 6, 2010 12:02 PM

Anonymous said...

There was a plan to sabotage Irans fleet , but Iran was actually clever to make a lot of noise.

Now the Western airports are claiming safety meassureas and are banning Iran Air flights by 80%

meaning enough to make sure to know what gets on there .

Dariush London