Iran fuel bans against int’l law: Analyst

A political commentator says the refusal by some foreign states to provide Iranian planes with fuel is a blow to the international regulations on aviation safety, Press TV reports.

In a Sunday interview with Press TV, Franklin Lamb, an international lawyer, said foreign companies are obliged to supply Iranian planes with fuel based on the “principles of the 1944 Chicago Convention” and the refusal to do so is a “blow to the convention.”

The analyst further stated that the United States exerts pressure on different European companies to make them abide by anti-Iran bans, adding the European firms “are afraid of violating those sanctions because Americans are playing games.”

“They are violating international law in order to protect themselves under domestic law and their finances and that’s what their board of directors are concerned about,” added Lamb.
On Sunday, Deputy Head of Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization Mohammad Khoda Karami excoriated some European countries for refusing to provide fuel to Iranian planes, saying the move is in “blatant violation” of international regulations.

The Iranian official also said even despite the interim nuclear deal signed between Iran and six powers – US, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany—last November, some European countries still refuse to supply fuel to Iranian passenger jets.

The US, Israel and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program with Washington and the European Union using this false claim to impose illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Iran has categorically denied the allegations.