Reported by PMOI/MEK
Iran, June 17, 2019 – An administrative supreme court in the city of Luneburg, southeast of Hamburg, Germany upheld an earlier decision by a lower German court banning carrier, Mahan Air, from landing or taking off from any German airport.
Mahan Air is owned and operated by the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), designated as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” (FTO) by the U.S. State Department.
The German Federal Aeronautic Association ruled on January 21 that Iran’s Mahan Air flights are no longer permitted to land or take off from any German airport. The decision, at the time, was based on ‘security concerns,’ according to the court ruling. Mahan Air is on U.S. sanctions list and Washington has long urged allies to ban it from their territory.
The Luneburg High Court ruled that considering Germany’s federal general political interests banning Mahan Air from using German airspace is unchallenged and can continue.
Mahan Air had launched opposition to the court ruling saying its office in Germany was suspended for a certain period of time. The court also rejected this claim saying the ruling is final and cannot be legally challenged.
The German court made the decision based on suspicions after German Foreign Ministry claimed that Mahan Air transports military equipment and personnel to Middle East war zones.
The German ban on the airline went into effect immediately after the court ruling, according to a statement from the German Foreign Ministry.
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, accusing the civilian airliner of providing financial and other support to Iran’s IRGC.
