A Boeing 747 plane of Mahan Air. Illustrative image. Source: Wikimedia user (Amin Nouabahr).
Saudi Arabia’s national carrier Saudia on July 4 pushed back against reports claiming that the kingdom transferred a number of of Boeing 777 aircraft it previously owned to an Iranian airline under sanctions.
In a statement posted on the social media network X, the airline said the aircraft were sold on June 7, 2023, to a company registered outside Saudi Arabia and that the transaction was carried out in accordance with all applicable commercial and legal procedures.
“Since the completion of the sale, Saudia has had no operational or commercial relationship with the aircraft,” the airline added, without identifying the buyer or providing further details.
The statement came in response to reports linking the former Saudia aircraft to a sanctioned carrier in Iran. According to the reports, five used Boeing 777-268ER widebody jets from the Saudi airline have been delivered to Iran’s Mahan Air, with two confirmed at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport.
Mahan Air is heavily sanctioned by the United States and European Union for allegedly acting as a logistical and transport arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The airline was accused of moving weapons, and military personnel to allies of Iran worldwide.
While the American-made aircraft were transferer to Iran indirectly, it is still hard to see this without the approval of the U.S., which keep tracks of such deals.
It is very possible that the transfer of the aircraft was greenlighted by the U.S. as a part of its recent deal with the Islamic Republic to end the way.
Iran lost at least 18 civilian aircraft during the war, started by the U.S. and Israel on February 28. Some of the aircraft were operated by Mahan Air. The aircraft transferred indirectly from Saudi Arabia will make up for some of these losses, and they may meant as a compensation.
It’s worth noting that a single used Boeing 777-268ER widebody could cost upwards of $45 million, which means the total price tag for five could be as high as $225 million.
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probably ok’ed by the yanks and the planes are loaded with spy ware and hidden cameras to locate and identify sensitive areas of iran.
iran will receive nukes from israel and usa soon!
heheheh
american zionist, because you lot bought the senators, the president of which ever colour and party, as you can overthrow the will of the american electorate or even senators, i can only say you are a bunch of very sick perverted cults!
israel will receive a cut in all its funding once we reach critical mass and remove your zogbots from our governments its time to end the jewish supremist colonial project and free palestine from you leeches. your 80 years of professional holi victi im narrative has worn off people are fed up by the c rimes you monsters committed against the palestinians syrians lebanese and by extension iraq lybia and iranians and armenians. you s k um bags will be held accountable for it.
israel only exists on our backs because our governments make holi v citim pa y ments like with that oldf art who got 5k a month from the ge rman government and her offspring put her in the garden in a freezer so they could continue to rake in the ca sh long after her passing. jews are parasitesliving off our back. times of israel woman buried holocaust survivor mom in yard to keep receiving her benefits – police search it on their site
if these were sitting on the tarmacs for several years, you can bet the maintenance alone would be in the millions making them useless. just look at the il60 that sitting at pearson yyz. go u s a !!
beware of americans bearing gifts, and remember how the helicopter carrying the president fell out of the skys! right after being serviced and american updated software being up loaded!
they probably have something bad hidden in them
why not chinese or russian airliners ? is iran this stupid ?