http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,798973,00.html
A recent purchase by an Iranian airline could prove embarrassing for Berlin. The Theodor Heuss, once an official government jet and used to ferry several different chancellors on trips abroad, now belongs to Mahan Air.
Its delivery to Tehran would appear to fly in the face of German diplomacy. Berlin has recently called for tighter sanctions against Iran following the International Atomic Energy Agency’s recent report indicating its concern that Tehran is working towards the creation of an atomic weapon.
Following its decommissioning, the Federal Disposal Sales and Marketing Agency (VEBEG) sold the aircraft to a Ukrainian investor group in late June for €3.1 million. The Ukrainian investor then secretly sold the VIP jet to Mahan Air. Industry insiders suggest that the group may have acted as a straw man for the Iranian government from the beginning.
By: Indiaecho - 22nd November 2011 at 19:48
I think British Caledonian fell for a similar scam when they sold their two A.310s to a company that ended up being a front for Libyan Airlines when they were subject to similar sanctions back in the 1980s.
By: MSR777 - 22nd November 2011 at 18:55
Just goes to show I guess, that sanctions are ineffective in almost all scenarios in which they’ve been used. I’m sure we’ll be seeing Iranian Airbuses and Boeings ‘gracing’ our skies for many years to come, sanctions or no sanctions.
Sign In
November 21, 2011 at 6:50 pm