Iran Air says flights to Europe unaffected by recent sanctions reports

Iran Air says there has been no disruption to its flights to European destinations following reports that Britain, France and Germany may impose sanctions against the national Iranian airline.

“All flights to destinations in European countries have been going on as planned,” said Iran Air spokesman Hessam Ghorbanali on Saturday.

It came a day after an Iran Air flight from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport (IKA) to Cologne in Germany was mistakenly declared cancelled on IKA’s website and on the airport’s display boards.

Ghorbanali blamed inconsistencies for the mistake and said measures had been taken to prevent a repetition of such issues.

He said the mistake had prompted some fake news websites to claim that all Iran Air flights to Europe had been cancelled because of sanctions imposed on the company by Britain, France and Germany.

The spokesman denied there have been any sanctions on Iran Air, saying the carrier has received no official correspondences from the aviation authorities of the three countries.

“If there is going to be a special development in this regard, it will happen in future,” said Ghorbanali.

Britain, France and Germany issued a statement on September 10 accusing Iran of supplying missiles to Russia for use in the Ukraine war. The three countries said they may cancel bilateral aviation services agreement with Iran and work towards sanctioning Iran Air.

Iran has roundly rejected the accusations.

Experts and political analysts believe that the recent missile transfer accusations against Iran is an attempt to increase pressure on the country amid reports it is planning to revive negotiations to restore a 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers.

The deal started to unravel in 2018 when a former government in the United States withdrew from the agreement.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk