Iran Calls Germany’s Ban of Mahan Air “Unjustifiable”

In a Tuesday statement, Qassemi expressed regret that Mahan Air’s landing permission in Germany has been revoked.

The spokesman underlined that the behavior was an arbitrary move and said the move is likely based on wrong information disseminated by [certain] sides which are dissatisfied with the current relations between Iran and Germany.

The spokesman expressed hope that Germany’s government timely revises its wrong and undesirable decision after exploring the facts and verifying the information because the decision can [negatively] impact the transportation of ordinary people.

“It goes without saying that the move is against the mutual interests of both sides,” he said.

He went on to say that undoubtedly no logic and reason can justify such a unilateral behavior which is based on wrong and wage information.

“A review of the history of Mahan Air’s mutual cooperation with its German partners reveals that there is no negative point in the carriers’ record,” he concluded.

Germany banned Mahan Air on Monday from landing in the country with immediate effect based on what it described as security concerns and the airline’s involvement in Syria.

Mahan Air is on a US sanctions list and the US has long urged allies to ban the airline from their territory.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has welcomed the German decision. “The airline transports weapons and fighters across the Middle East, supporting the Iranian regime’s destructive ambitions around the region,” he said in a tweet and called on other US allies to follow suit.

Mahan, Iran’s second-largest carrier after Iran Air, flies four services a week between Tehran and the German cities of Duesseldorf and Munich.

The move comes at a sensitive time in relations between Iran and Germany as the latter plays a large role in trying to salvage the Iran nuclear deal after the US unilateral withdrawal last year.