IRANIAN airline, Mahan Air, has applied
for a Scheduled Foreign Operators
Permit for a twice-weekly service
between Tehran and Johannesburg.
Media liaison officer of the South
African Department of Transport,
Motlatsi Lebea, says the application
is still in progress as the DOT awaits
outstanding documents from Mahan Air.
Mahan Air is a private airline, first
established in 1992. Currently flies
to destinations in the Middle East,
Far East, Central Asia and Europe.
According to the US Department of
the Treasury, Mahan Air is currently on
the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s
(OFAC) list of Specially Designated
Nationals and Blocked Persons. The
airline was placed on the list in October
2011 for providing financial, material
and technological support to the
IRGC-Qods Force. The IRGC-Qods Force
was previously designated in October
2007 for its support of numerous
terrorist groups.
Meanwhile, international sanctions
on Iran were lifted earlier this year, and
during a two-day visit in April, President
Jacob Zuma and Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani agreed to increase
non-oil trade and investment between
South Africa and Iran to a billion
dollars by 2020.
