Faced with tightening sanctions, Iran Air finds options to buy new aircraft and spare parts limited
In October, one of Iran Air's 40 year-old Boeing 727s was filmed making an emergency landing at Tehran Mehrabad Airport. Banned from European Union (EU) airspace, the plane was on a return flight from Moscow when its front landing gear failed to deploy. After skidding to a halt on the runway, all 113 people on board were safely evacuated and the flag carrier vowed to repair its geriatric jet.
Sadly for Iranians, incidents such as this are hardly rare. More than 700 nationals have died in 13 crashes over the past six years, including 77 in January when another of Iran Air's 727s crashed while trying to land in the north-western city of Urumiyeh.
Officials are quick to blame sanctions for the country's poor air safety record, noting that the US Treasury's Iranian Transactions Regulations bar American companies from selling civil aircraft, spare parts or MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) services to Iranian carriers. With European sanctions also in place, Iran Air must turn to the secondary market when maintaining its ageing Boeing and Airbus fleet.
"Following the revolution in 1979, Iran's ability to import new aircraft immediately became restricted," Iran Air chairman Farhad Parvaresh told The Gulf. "Ever since, we have not been in a position to go directly to manufacturers and make an order."
America justifies its trade ban by alleging that Iran uses the flag carrier to spread mischief across the world, flying weapons to Syria for use by Hezbollah militants and trading missile components with North Korea. It views the aviation sanctions as part of a broader set of punitive measures designed to isolate Iran from the global community.
The US body responsible for enforcing sanctions is the Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, which until June had the ability to grant special authorisations on a case-by-case basis. This licensing policy enabled a US company, acting on behalf of Iran Air, to apply for export-specific articles required for the safe operation of US-made civil aircraft.
In other words, if one of Iran Air's ailing 727s needed replacement landing gear, Boeing or an intermediary could have gone to OFAC and requested the right to supply the equipment. Such applications were successfully filed during the 1990s and 2000s, including under the administration of president George W Bush.
Since this summer, however, Iran Air has come under a new, tougher sanctions programme. The Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Sanctions Regulations state that the flag carrier proactively supports terrorism by assisting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and is therefore not eligible to receive exports under any circumstances whatsoever.
"The WMD sanctions are much more rigid and strict," explained Erich Ferrari, an attorney specialising in US sanctions. "Essentially no transactions are allowed, period. Iran Air is completely off the table."
Nor is Iran's flag carrier the only affected airline. In October, privately-owned Mahan Air was implicated in the alleged plot to kill Saudi Arabia's envoy to the US, earning its place in the WMD sanctions regulations. Furthermore, if US Congressman Brad Sherman gets his way, the House of Representatives will soon vote to exclude every Iranian airline from special authorisations.
"Critics [of tougher sanctions] argued that these measures will hurt the Iranian people," the Democrat wrote last year. "Quite frankly, we need to do just that."
US president Barack Obama appears not to agree, having invoked executive powers in March while seeking to licence the repair of 15 potentially faulty engines owned by Iran Air and Mahan Air. His administration opposes efforts to further dilute OFAC's discretionary powers, but with 349 sponsors in the House, Sherman's bill could yet be voted into law.
Iran Air's chairman, who has always denied using his fleet for military purposes, declined to comment on OFAC policy while speaking to The Gulf. Seemingly resigned to the sanctions landscape, Parvaresh is instead focused on an ambitious fleet renewal programme which aims to lessen the airline's dependence on US firms.
"We have already phased out our Boeing 707, 737 and 727-100 aircraft," he notes. "There are also plans for other ageing aircraft to be gradually phased out. We are working on plans to substitute the aircraft with suitable ones, mostly Airbus."
Focusing on European Airbus jets makes sense, but is far from a silver bullet. The EU's own trade ban prohibits direct purchases, and even once Iran Air has sourced jets on the secondary market, it is still heavily restricted by components. US engine manufacturers General Electric, CFM and Pratt and Whitney, for example, are all off the cards.
Complicating things further is OFAC's appetite for penalising western companies that lend operational support to the flag carrier. This policy came to the forefront last year, when oil company BP stopped re-fuelling Iran Air jets at European airports. Other suppliers quickly followed suit, meaning that the few Iran Air jets still permitted to fly to the EU must now make re-fuelling stops on their return legs - typically in Ukraine.
"OFAC director Adam Szubin has made it very clear to international trading partners that they either do business with us [America] or they do business with these rogue actors," Ferrari explained. "The international community is waking up to the fact that OFAC will take enforcement action."
Notwithstanding the operational headache caused by such actions, safety concerns dominate the debate over US aviation sanctions. Here, in sharp contrast to Sherman's hawkish remarks, Ferrari said he does not believe the US Treasury's goal is to endanger the lives of Iranian civilians.
"They're trying to make these planes inoperable by blocking access to spare parts," the attorney argued. "They're not thinking, perhaps, that Iran Air may fly the planes regardless, using substitute parts that may be inadequate."
Parvaresh was quick to assert that Iran Air never knowingly operates unsafe aircraft. "With nearly half a century of commercial background, Iran Air performs its operations completely in compliance with global standards for civil aviation," he stressed. "Any actions that potentially impact safe operations are against the law."
Nonetheless, Iran's safety record speaks for itself. The recent tightening of OFAC's licensing policy looks destined to contribute to future crashes, and legislation of the type backed by Sherman will only ratchet up the death toll quicker.
The international community broadly supports sanctions against Iran, and America has good reason for targeting its arch-rival's economy. Whether those efforts should include complicity in the deaths of hundreds of Iranian civilians, though, is an ethical dilemma which US politicians and voters must think about carefully. Given their own horrific experience of aviation disasters, Americans may find compassion easier to stomach.
© The Gulf 2011
