‘IranAir flights unaffected by sanctions’

A senior Iranian official says that the foreign flights of the Airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IranAir) continue uninterrupted despite the West’s pressure and limitations imposed on the country’s airlines.

“Considering the fueling limitations caused for IranAir airline at 13 European stops, none of Homa’s international flights have been halted,” said Farhad Parvaresh, chief executive officer of IranAir, which is also known as Homa, on Saturday, IRNA reported.

He praised Iranians for continuing to travel with IranAir despite flight delays due to fueling problems and for supporting the national airlines.

“While Iran’s air transport industry has been under sanctions for the past 30 years, the UN Resolution 1929 has placed heavy pressure on the industry, particularly on IranAir,” the Iranian official said.

On June 9, 2010, the UN Security Council imposed the US-engineered sanctions Resolution 1929 against Iran over allegations that Tehran might be developing a military nuclear program. Following the move, both the US and the EU also levied unilateral sanctions against the energy and banking sectors of the Islamic Republic.

In late May, the European Union expanded sanctions against Iran over its peaceful nuclear program. The EU foreign ministers decided to impose an asset freeze as well as travel bans on several additional Iranian officials and over 100 companies with alleged links to Iran’s nuclear program.

Iran has repeatedly and vehemently rejected the unverified Western allegations that it is pursuing a military nuclear program, insisting that as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it has every right to engage in nuclear activities for all peaceful purposes.

The IAEA has been regularly conducting rigorous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence of the country’s diversion from a civilian nuclear program.