National resilience in skies
Sanctions will not ground Iran’s flights
Iran’s aviation industry will continue operating despite new US sanctions targeting Iranian airlines, although the measures could increase operating and procurement costs, the head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization said on Wednesday.
Speaking in response to the US decision to sanction 27 Iranian airlines, Captain Abuzar Shiroudi said the latest move was neither a new initiative nor evidence of the effectiveness of Washington’s policy, IRNA reported.
It is “a repetition of a failed policy against the Iranian nation, a policy that the country’s aviation industry has faced for decades and one that has been met time and again with the capabilities and resilience of Iranian specialists,” he said.
The US Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed new sanctions on 27 Iranian airlines, including Iran Aseman, Iran Airtour, Kish Air, Qeshm Air, Zagros, ATA, Varesh, Sepehran and Chabahar, as well as other airlines operating in Iran.
Shiroudi said Iran’s aviation industry had for years faced restrictions on the purchase of aircraft and spare parts, as well as technical, banking, insurance, repair and maintenance services. Despite these restrictions, he said, the country’s aviation sector had continued to operate.
“Sanctions may increase the cost of operations and the procurement of some needs, but they have so far failed to halt the country’s flight operations, and they will not be able to do so today either,” he said.
The civil aviation chief also cautioned against exaggerating the impact of the new measures, saying the imposition of sanctions did not mean aircraft would be grounded or airlines forced to shut down.
“Targeting Iranian airlines in practice means restricting people’s access to air transportation services, and ordinary people, patients, families and economic actors will bear the greatest share of the cost,” he said.
Shiroudi noted that Iranian airlines had continued to provide services despite years of sanctions, describing the continuation of flights under difficult conditions as evidence of the aviation industry’s capabilities and resilience.
“The US can put the names of companies on its sanctions list, but it cannot sanction the knowledge of specialists, the industry’s accumulated experience or the determination of Iran’s aviation personnel,” he said.
Shiroudi acknowledged that sanctions could make the procurement of some requirements more difficult but said they would not prevent Iran’s aviation sector from continuing to operate.
No flight cancellations
Meanwhile, Ramin Kashef-Azar, chief executive of Imam Khomeini International Airport City, said none of the country’s international flights had been restricted or canceled.
Speaking to the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) about the impact of the new sanctions on the international flights of the affected airlines, Kashef-Azar said all flights at the international airport were currently operating and that flight activities were proceeding normally, with no cancellations so far.
“So far, we have received no letter or correspondence regarding a reduction in international flights or a lowering of flight levels, and no country has contacted us on the matter,” he said.
He stressed that planning to expand the airport’s flight network was continuing, adding that plans for new routes were still under way, with Tunisia and Vietnam among the destinations being considered.