France Also Bans Mahan Air Flights to Paris

Following Germany, France has also banned Mahan Air flights to the country, stating that Mahan Air is involved in "transporting forces and weapons to Syria and other parts of the Middle East." It announced that the airline's planes will not be allowed to fly from or to Paris starting April 1. Reuters and Bloomberg reported this news citing French sources. The U.S. has had Mahan Air on its sanctions list since 2011 due to its "connections with the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps" and "transporting forces and weapons." A French diplomatic source told Reuters, "We also had information through our intelligence services about these activities of Mahan Air, and after Germany's action, it was just a matter of verification." According to Reuters and Bloomberg, citing Al-Monitor, French officials have now concluded to ban all Mahan flights on the Tehran-Paris route starting next week. Mahan Air previously operated four weekly flights on this route, but online ticket purchases for this route are no longer available on the airline's website, and according to Reuters, Mahan's office in Paris is not answering calls. The decision to revoke Mahan Air's flight permit was considered by France several years ago during Francois Hollande's presidency, but was shelved after the signing of the JCPOA due to concerns about harming the nuclear agreement. The news of France's new decision comes about two months after Germany announced at the beginning of Bahman that Mahan Air's license had been revoked in that country. The German decision was welcomed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who tweeted inviting other countries to take similar action against Mahan Air, which "supports the regime's destructive actions by transporting weapons and forces in the Middle East." The U.S. also sanctioned four entities a few days after Germany's decision due to their connections with Mahan Air and the Quds Force. Mahan Air was established in 1992 in Kerman and is recognized as the first private airline in Iran. According to Reuters, this company has the largest fleet of aircraft among Iranian companies and operates weekly flights to several European capitals. After reinstating all sanctions against Iran, the U.S. has pressured European countries to join these sanctions.