Mahan Air Boeing Still Flying Despite US Sanctions — SkimNews
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- Mahan Air operates a 23-year-old Boeing 777 on routes from Tehran to Southeast Asia, defying U.S. sanctions that aim to isolate Iranian carriers by penalizing third-party cooperation.
- U.S. sanctions target all Iranian airlines with threats of punishment for any entity engaging them, yet the continued flight of Mahan Air’s EP-MTE aircraft shows limited global compliance.
- Vietnam, Thailand, China, and Russia continue to accept Mahan Air flights despite Oman, Turkey, and Iraq halting operations, revealing uneven adherence to American pressure campaigns.
- Aging aircraft risks are heightened for Mahan Air due to long-standing U.S. bans on spare parts and maintenance support, raising safety concerns among passengers and experts.
- Iranian resilience is demonstrated through sustained airline operations, relying on countries willing to bypass U.S. sanctions, particularly in regions dependent on Middle Eastern energy ties.
Why it matters: Mahan Air’s continued operation exposes the limits of U.S. coercive leverage when strategic dependencies override compliance — countries accepting these flights gain economic or diplomatic flexibility, while American sanctions lose credibility as enforcement becomes selective rather than universal.
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