Contributing to catastrophe: Boeing and Iran’s use of commercial airliners for war

As the civil war continues in Syria, perhaps the worst humanitarian crisis this century has witnessed thus far has yet a new wrinkle to unfold and one, to some extent, the United States and Europe may be becoming an ‘unwitting’ contributor. The Iran Nuclear Deal, touted as one of the Obama administration’s shining foreign policy achievements, has the added potential to become a back-channel for further catastrophe and bloodshed.

Besides the massive amount of potential wealth that Iran will likely acquire, by the easing of sanctions against the rogue Islamic Republic, this deal has re-opened the long-closed floodgate for international businesses more than eager to seek a variety of ventures with the Iranian regime. One industry in particular, that has European and even United States companies virtually frothing at the mouth is airliner manufacturing.

Boeing and several other European companies, like France Airbus and French-Italian aircraft company (ATR), are positioning themselves to nail down multi-billion dollar sales of brand new airliners to Iran. Iran Air, the regime’s chief airline, is seeking to robustly increase and modernize their commercial fleet. After decades of crippling economic sanctions airlines, like Iran Air, have some of the oldest and most dilapidated aircraft in the world. And while these potential deals seem like an attempt to open up the Islamic Republic to the to the free market, Iranian commercial transports have been, and continue to be, used for the purpose of conducting war. This includes most recently the Syrian civil war, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and has sent even more into exile seeking asylum in Europe,

And while these potential deals seem like an attempt to open up the Islamic Republic to the to the free market, Iranian commercial transports have been, and continue to be, used for the purpose of conducting war. This includes most recently the Syrian civil war, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and has sent even more into exile seeking asylum in Europe, neighboring Arab countries, the United States, and Canada.

Moreover, the U.S. government has definitive proof Iran engages in such behaviors, and in many ways, we have been virtually powerless to stop it. According to a press release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury dated February 6, 2014, Mahan Air, an Iranian airline that has been under sanction since 2011, continues to ferry “significant quantities of weapons and other illicit cargo into Syria on its own passenger aircraft to support the Assad regime’s violent crackdown against its own citizens.” A report from The Hill by Emanuele Ottolenghi in November of 2015 states, “In practice, Mahan might as well rename itself [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] IRGC-air.”

Also outlined in the Treasury Department’s release are companies such as Blue Sky Aviation and Avia Trust FZE, both based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as front companies that act as payment channels for Mahan air to purchase oil, aircraft, engines, and parts in avoidance of customs inspections and U.S. sanctions. Although Iran Air has not been implicated in any similar activity, as of yet, there is little reason to doubt they might continue with the same

Although Iran Air has not been implicated in any similar activity, as of yet, there is little reason to doubt they might continue with the same behaviors given Iran’s propensity to use shadowy methods to fund and supply violent proxies like the Assad regime and the Hezbollah militia. It is important to remember that all major industries in Iran are state-controlled, so any major deals of the kind Boeing is seeking have the potential to bolster their military and terrorist efforts.

The potential $17 billion dollar deal with Boeing, for 50 narrow-body 737s and 30 wide-body 777s, would not only completely revitalize Iran Air’s commercial fleet but would give a nation, that is openly backing a ruthless dictator and funding international terrorism, state-of-the-art aircraft to continue their clandestine activities of transporting arms and equipment with impunity. Also jockeying for ventures are companies like France Airbus for wide-body A380s and French-Italian aircraft company for some turboprop short-haul planes.

The fact is Iran, both before and after the nuclear deal has consistently, and with very little consequences, violated a host of sanctions in place to prevent their attempts at military procurement and other illicit activities. This is aside from other provocative behaviors from the regime including ‘death to America’ rallies, testing ballistic missiles, and antagonizing American naval vessels in international waters.

For example, in November of 2016, the Department of Justice charged four Iranian nationals in absentia. These individuals currently remain at large and are, what Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara asserts they have, “Conspired and schemed to hide millions of dollars’ of financial transactions specifically to evade U.S. sanction laws.”

In another case in May of the same year, Canadian-Iranian Ali Reza Parsa was sentenced to 36 months for conspiring “To obtain high-tech electronic components from American companies for transhipment to Iran and other countries.” These components are just part of Iran’s ongoing attempts to build and perfect an ICBM and other ballistic missile types.

Deals like the one Boeing is seeking, will likely do for Iran Air, what Mahan Air had to accomplish in secret, using used and more antiquated aircraft. Currently, the Trump administration is vigorously opposed to the deal. Also to be considered is Iran’s abysmal human rights record. To this end, the Iranian regime has also used its commercial aircraft to deliver weapons and equipment to its ominous Qods Force, that uses violent crackdowns, indiscriminate imprisonment, and methods of torture to quell dissent. Lest we forget Hitler’s Nazi party used similar tactics to establish and maintain control against dissention of a similar kind inside and outside of Germany.

And though, in some regard, the Iran Nuclear Deal may have made the Islamic Republic open for business, this does not mean that money should take precedence over responsibility. Companies like Boeing and others should pay careful heed to the possibility that their business ventures with such violent and unstable regimes like Iran. They must consider what it means to make deals with the only nation that calls for the utter destruction of another – Israel and ultimately the United States of America.