By Ben Evansky
A new report released by an Iranian opposition group
claims that Iran’s biggest airline — Mahan Air — is run by the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Qods Force. This force is commanded by
notorious Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
The new report published by the National Council of
Resistance of Iran (NCRI) states that the so-called private airline, Iran’s
largest commercial airliner, is anything but commercial, and in fact works as a
tool for Iran’s expansionist policies. President Donald Trump sanctioned the
IRGC last month for supporting terrorism.
The report titled, “An IRGC Qods Force entity operating
under the guise of a private company,” stated that one of the most significant
findings “was that Mahan Air Corporation does not merely cooperate with the
IRGC and the Qods Force, but is wholly owned and controlled by them.” This is
the same Qods Force which was sanctioned by the U.S. for providing material
support to the Taliban and other terrorist organizations in 2007.
The report describes the critical role that Mahan Air
plays, along with other Iranian carriers, in “Iran’s interference in the
countries of the region, including the transfer of personnel and logistics for
the IRGC and proxy militias.”
According to the report, as of 2017, Mahan Air includes
62 airliners and flies commercially to 41 destinations in 24 countries on three
continents. Major destinations include Paris, Milan and Munich in Europe, and
others in Asia and Africa, where front companies have been created to bypass
sanctions.
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The report also describes the complex relationship
between Soleimani, the Qods Force commander, and some senior commanders of IRGC
who fought under him during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. These parties
operated in the same region in Iran — Kerman, the place where Mahan Air was
first registered. Curiously, all those mentioned in the report now hold senior
positions at Mahan Air while still being members of the IRGC.
Soona Samsami, the NCRI representative in Washington
D.C., told Fox News that Mahan has transported forces, logistics and weaponry
for the IRGC and Hezbollah between Iran, Syria and Lebanon. She said, “It is
primarily used by the IRGC in general and the Qods Force in specific in
transferring forces and equipment and regional mercenaries such as Hezbollah to
Syria and Lebanon. This airline has played the most active role in the past six
years during the war in Syria for such transportations.”
Emanuele Ottolenghi, who does not have anything to do
with the publication of the NCRI report, is an expert on Iran sanctions and its
aviation sector. He told Fox News, “Mahan CEO Hamid Arabnejad Khanooki and QF
(Qods Force) Commander Qassem Soleimani are both Kermanis. And Arabnejad is a
former IRGC commander. It is not a formal relationship, but is based on informal
bonds or origin, militancy and ideology.”
Ottolenghi is senior fellow at the Foundation for the
Defense of Democracies in Washington D.C. He has written widely on nonnuclear
sanctions against Iran and has testified to Congress on the subject. He pointed
to Executive Order 13224 signed by President George W. Bush shortly after the
9/11 terrorist attacks that gives the administration powerful tools to confront
terrorist funding.
(It) “allows them to target enablers and providers of
material support to Mahan. Any company selling parts, offering maintenance
services, can be hit by fines or sanctions. Same for those operating as cargo
sales, general sales and ticket sales agents. Ditto for ground services
suppliers at airports. These include fueling, baggage handling, crew services,
catering, etc.”
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Ottolenghi continued, “Similarly the administration can
sanction the Iranian airports whence Mahan troop flights to Syria leave. It can
sanction the company that provides fuel to Mahan in Iran. If it knows banks
involved in managing payments in Europe for Mahan Air’s transactions on these
services, it can similarly sanction them or at least impose fines,” he said.
“In short a lot more can be done.”
Mahan Air was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department
in 2011 for providing material support to the IRGC’s Qods Force in 2011, and
again in 2016 to four entities that had helped Mahan skirt the sanctions regime
placed against it. Several airlines that had been on the list were removed
following the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — Mahan Air remained on it.
“In short, Mahan Air is the pseudo name for ‘IRGC Air.’
This front carrier is a primary asset in the IRGC’s fueling of Iran’s
belligerence across the region,” Heshmat Alavi, an Iranian political analyst
and activist, said.
Alavi told Fox News about the airlines goals: "This
includes transferring recruited Afghans and Pakistanis to provide foot-soldiers
and cannon fodders in Iran’s campaign of propping the Assad regime in Syria.”
He added that following President Trump’s sanctioning of
the IRGC for its support of terrorism the administration needs to hit back at
Iranian intransigence. “The Trump administration’s IRGC blacklisting needs
full-throttle implementation and patching all loopholes left behind from the
Obama-era. One major step is to clip the IRGC’s wings and bring an urgent end
to Iran’s footprints throughout the Middle East and beyond,” he said.
This article was first published by
foxnews.
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