US designates three Iranian B747s for Russia flights

The United States Department of Commerce has added add three Iranian B747s to its export restrictions list citing their recent flights to Russia.

The US administration alleges that the three aircraft were involved in transporting sanctioned goods, including electronics, to Russia. Operating flights to Russia alone is not grounds for US sanctions.

The trio are:

• B747-200C(M) EP-ICD (msn 24134) operated by IranAir,

• B747-200FSCD EP-FAA (msn 23502) operated by Qeshm Fars Air, and

• B747-400 EP-MEE (msn 24383) operated by Mahan Air.

Each of the aircraft has been tracked flying to/from Moscow Sheremetyevo in September 2022.

IranAir and all of its aircraft, including EP-ICD, have been sanctioned by the US since 2018. Notionally privately-owned Mahan Air has been designated since 2011 for its alleged ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Quds Force, but EP-MEE is not specifically designated. Qeshm Fars Air was subsequently designated in 2019 as a subsidiary of Mahan Air. EP-FAA is included on the list of secondary sanctions.

CH Aviation