Accuses Three Countries Of Withholding Fuel For Passenger Jets

The government of Iran says The UK, UAE, and Germany have refused to refuel passenger jets belonging to the national carrier Iran Air, as well as a private airline, Mahan Air. Mehdi Aliyari, secretary of the Iranian Airlines Union, told Iranian media the move was the result of unilateral U.S. sanctions which penalize those doing business with Iran over its nuclear program. "Refusing to provide fuel to Iranian passenger planes by these countries is a violation of international conventions," Aliyari said.

German officials told the BBC that there was no such ban against Iranian airliners, and Britain said it was unaware of any such action.

The new sanctions approved by President Obama last week prohibit the sale of refined petroleum products to Iran totalling more than $5 million over a year. The UN Security Council voted last month to institute a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear enrichment program, which Iran insist is for peaceful purposes, not atomic weapons development.

The UAE said that it is continuing to refuel Iranian jets, but the international news service AFP cited a source saying an "unnamed" fuel supplier had refused service to Iranian jets. The UK's CAA also said the decision would be left to individual fuel suppliers, not imposed by the government. Some companies are reportedly concerned that they might exceed the $5 million threshold in sales to Iran and then be barred from doing business in the U.S.

Germany's transportation ministry said there were no EU or UN sanctions that would prevent the refueling of Iranian planes, but would not comment on actions taken by individual fuel companies.

Iran has threatened retaliation for what it perceives as a ban. "Iran will do the same to ships and planes of those countries that cause problems for us," said Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh.

FMI: www.un.org, www.whitehouse.gov