Instead of Bypassing Sanctions:
Germany Bans Mahan Air Under U.S. Pressure
BERLIN (Dispatches) -- Germany has revoked the license of an Iranian airline after heavy U.S. pressure on Berlin, accusing it of transporting military equipment and personnel to Syria and other Middle East war zones, the foreign ministry said on Monday.
The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, claiming it provided financial and other support to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and has been pressing its European allies to follow suit.
The German ban on the airline takes immediate effect, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
The measure does not signal plans for the reimposition of broader sanctions against Iran, a German government source told Reuters.
Mahan Air, established in 1992 as Iran’s first private airline, has the country’s largest fleet of aircraft and has flights to a number of European countries, including France, Italy, Spain and Greece.
Most European countries are already refusing refueling service to Iranian flights, officials have said.
The U.S. ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, who has long objected to Mahan Air’s links to Germany, welcomed the ban.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said the decision "is based on considerations of our security needs.”
"It cannot be ruled out that this airline could also transport cargo to Germany that threatens our security,” he said, accusing Iran of being involved in terrorist activities in Europe in the past.
Germany’s new hostile move came after it accused Iran of being linked to an Afghan-German man suspected of spying.
Germany's federal prosecutor's office said on Tuesday that a 50-year-old Afghan-German dual national who worked for the German military had been detained on suspicion of passing data to an Iranian intelligence agency.
Iran on Sunday denied having any link to the man, suggesting his arrest in Germany was part of efforts to mar EU-Iran relations.
"While denying any link to this supposed individual ...we are not surprised to hear such news amid baseless security charges concocted by those who seek to damage relations between Iran and Europe at this sensitive juncture," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
This month, the European Union froze the assets of an Iranian intelligence unit and two of its staff after the Netherlands accused Iran of two killings on its soil and joined France and Denmark in alleging Tehran plotted other attacks in Europe.
Iran has denied any involvement in those alleged plots, saying the accusations were intended to damage EU-Iran relations.
European countries have been under sustained U.S. pressure to reimpose sanctions on Iran since President Donald Trump last year pulled Washington out of a nuclear non-proliferation treaty it had reached with Tehran under his predecessor Barack Obama.
The European signatories to the deal - Germany, France, Britain – claim that they are trying to keep it alive.
The European countries, with more extensive economic ties to Iran, have sought to shield themselves from the impact of Washington’s extra-territorial sanctions, with limited success.
Iran has said its patience is running thin.
Final preparations for the special purpose vehicle were to be discussed by EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels on Monday, where they were also working to develop broader conclusions on Iran to be adopted at an EU leaders' summit in March.
The EU's ability to push back on the U.S. sanctions is limited given that many companies are already complying for fear of losing access to the U.S. market.
But the special purpose vehicle will preserve at least some economic activity, U.S. political journalism company Politico website quoted officials as saying.
"And it is viewed as an extremely important symbolic step for the Iranian government — allowing it to answer domestic critics who say that Iran should retaliate by abandoning the deal,” it said.
The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, claiming it provided financial and other support to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and has been pressing its European allies to follow suit.
The German ban on the airline takes immediate effect, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
The measure does not signal plans for the reimposition of broader sanctions against Iran, a German government source told Reuters.
Mahan Air, established in 1992 as Iran’s first private airline, has the country’s largest fleet of aircraft and has flights to a number of European countries, including France, Italy, Spain and Greece.
Most European countries are already refusing refueling service to Iranian flights, officials have said.
The U.S. ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, who has long objected to Mahan Air’s links to Germany, welcomed the ban.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said the decision "is based on considerations of our security needs.”
"It cannot be ruled out that this airline could also transport cargo to Germany that threatens our security,” he said, accusing Iran of being involved in terrorist activities in Europe in the past.
Germany’s new hostile move came after it accused Iran of being linked to an Afghan-German man suspected of spying.
Germany's federal prosecutor's office said on Tuesday that a 50-year-old Afghan-German dual national who worked for the German military had been detained on suspicion of passing data to an Iranian intelligence agency.
Iran on Sunday denied having any link to the man, suggesting his arrest in Germany was part of efforts to mar EU-Iran relations.
"While denying any link to this supposed individual ...we are not surprised to hear such news amid baseless security charges concocted by those who seek to damage relations between Iran and Europe at this sensitive juncture," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
This month, the European Union froze the assets of an Iranian intelligence unit and two of its staff after the Netherlands accused Iran of two killings on its soil and joined France and Denmark in alleging Tehran plotted other attacks in Europe.
Iran has denied any involvement in those alleged plots, saying the accusations were intended to damage EU-Iran relations.
European countries have been under sustained U.S. pressure to reimpose sanctions on Iran since President Donald Trump last year pulled Washington out of a nuclear non-proliferation treaty it had reached with Tehran under his predecessor Barack Obama.
The European signatories to the deal - Germany, France, Britain – claim that they are trying to keep it alive.
The European countries, with more extensive economic ties to Iran, have sought to shield themselves from the impact of Washington’s extra-territorial sanctions, with limited success.
Iran has said its patience is running thin.
Final preparations for the special purpose vehicle were to be discussed by EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels on Monday, where they were also working to develop broader conclusions on Iran to be adopted at an EU leaders' summit in March.
The EU's ability to push back on the U.S. sanctions is limited given that many companies are already complying for fear of losing access to the U.S. market.
But the special purpose vehicle will preserve at least some economic activity, U.S. political journalism company Politico website quoted officials as saying.
"And it is viewed as an extremely important symbolic step for the Iranian government — allowing it to answer domestic critics who say that Iran should retaliate by abandoning the deal,” it said.