U.S. slaps sanctions on Kyrgyz, Ukrainian airlines over Iran-Syria link

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States has implemented new sanctions against airlines in Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine that it says helped Iran acquire aircraft, which may have been used to deliver weapons for the war in Syria, according to RIA Novosti.

The U.S. Treasury Department said last week that Kyrgyz Trans Avia and two Ukraine-based airlines, Bukovyna and Ukrainian-Mediterranean (UMAir), as well as an airline in the United Arab Emirates, had all “served as intermediaries for the acquisition of aircraft by [Tehran-based] Mahan Air and Iran Air as Iran continues to move illicit cargo to Syria for the ... regime’s violent crackdown against its own citizens.”

Both Mahan Air and Iran Air were sanctioned by the United States in 2011 for assisting Iranian armed forces, according to a May 31 statement on the department's website. The statement also says Mahan Air has transported personnel and weapons for the Lebanon-based Shia militant group Hezbollah.

Kyrgyz Trans Avia airline could not be immediately reached for comment. However, on June 3, a company representative was quoted by Kyrgyzstan's Vecherny Bishkek newspaper as saying that 2013 would be the fifth year the company would be using Mahan Air's planes to fly Kyrgyz Muslims to their annual pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The representative said the planes carried only passengers, not arms.

Bukovyna and UMAir issued similarly worded statements saying their operations complied with Ukrainian, Iranian and international law, as well as UN requirements. Both statements, sent to RIA Novosti by a UMAir representative, said the companies are not licensed to transport arms and have not sold any aircraft to Iranian operators, but have been "wet leasing" aircraft to Iran for some time, meaning they provide not only the plane, but crew and maintenance.

The Treasury Department’s action is the first use of sanctions under Executive Order 13608, issued last year, which “targets foreign sanctions evaders, including those that facilitate transactions for persons sanctioned in connection with Iran or Syria,” it said. The decision prohibits U.S. citizens, permanent residents and companies from doing business with the airlines and restricts entry to the United States for some of their principals.