WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Monday it had sanctioned a Malaysia-based sales agent for Mahan Air, an Iranian airline already under U.S. sanctions in connection with Iran’s alleged support for international terrorism.

“As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of Mahan Travel and Tourism Sdn Bhd that are or come within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked,” the department said in a statement. </s> The U.S. Treasury Department announced Monday that it would sanction Mahan Travel and Tourism Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian sales agent for Iranian airline Mahan Air.

 

 In 2011, under the administration of then-president Barack Obama, the department sanctioned the airline, claiming it had provided travel services to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force — a group that had been designated a terrorist supporter in 2007 for providing support to the Taliban.

 

 As part of the 2011 sanctions, the airline was forbidden from financial and commercial activity with the U.S., and its assets within the country were frozen.

 

 "The United States government has been very clear about the deadly role played by Mahan Air," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "Our action … makes it clear to all in the aviation industry that they urgently need to sever all ties and distance themselves immediately from this airline."

 

 According to the statement, as a result of Monday's sanctions, the sales agent's properties inside or coming within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked.

 

 In February, The Wall Street Journal reported that Mahan Air had purchased airplane parts such as engines from U.S. manufacturers through the use of Turkish shell companies, circumventing the sanctions. </s> The United States has sanctioned Malaysia-based Mahan Travel and Tourism company for its links to Iran's airline Mahan Air, the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on its website on Monday.

Mahan Travel and Tourism, based in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, is subject to secondary sanctions under Iranian financial sanctions, according to OFAC.

READ MORE: US Sanctions on Iran: India Weighs in on 'National Interest'

Previously, Washington already sanctioned Iran's airline Mahan Air, saying it transported "operatives" of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, as well as weapons and equipment, to Syria.

In addition, the sanctions were imposed on two Iranian citizens linked to Dena Airways, Turkish businesswoman Gulnihal Yegane and three aviation-related companies allegedly providing assistance to Mahan Air.

According to the US Treasury Department, sanctions target the Iranian airlines, which are accused of providing services to terrorists and delivering proxy forces to Syria and Lebanon. </s> BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany has revoked the license of an Iranian airline because it has been transporting military equipment and personnel to Syria and other Middle East war zones, the foreign ministry said on Monday, after heavy U.S. pressure on Berlin to act.

An Airbus A340-300 of Iranian airline Mahan Air takes off from Duesseldorf airport DUS, Germany January 16, 2019. Picture taken January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

The United States imposed sanctions on Mahan Air in 2011, saying it provided financial and other support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), and has been pressing its European allies to follow suit.

The German ban on the airline takes immediate effect, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Monday that the “U.S. Treasury appreciates the important decision by Germany to deny Mahan Air’s landing rights. Mahan routinely flies IRGC-QF and weapons to Syria, is subject to our terrorism secondary sanctions, and should be denied access around the world.”

Contacted by Reuters, Mahan Air in Tehran said it could not comment immediately on the ban.

The measure does not signal plans for the reimposition of broader sanctions against Iran, a German government source told Reuters.

Mahan Air, established in 1992 as Iran’s first private airline, has the country’s largest fleet of aircraft and has flights to a number of European countries, including France, Italy, Spain and Greece.

The U.S. ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, who has long objected to Mahan Air’s links to Germany, welcomed the ban.

“Mahan Air has flown terrorists, weapons, equipment, and funds to international locations to support Iranian terrorist proxy groups,” he said in a statement.

“Iran’s use of Mahan Air to support the Assad regime in Syria, for example, has contributed to incredible human suffering, violence, and political instability felt across the world,” he said, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“SECURITY NEEDS”

German government spokesman Steffen Seibert denied that the decision to ban Mahan air was the result of U.S. pressure.

“The German decision is based on considerations of our security needs,” he told a regular news conference.

“It cannot be ruled out that this airline could also transport cargo to Germany that threatens our security. This is based on knowledge of past terrorist activities by Iran in Europe,” he added.

European countries have been under sustained U.S. pressure to reimpose sanctions on Iran since President Donald Trump last year pulled Washington out of an international nuclear non-proliferation treaty reached with Tehran under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Along with Iran, the other signatories to the deal - Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China - are still trying to keep it alive.

The European countries, with more extensive economic ties to Iran and mindful of the threat that would be posed by another nuclear state in their immediate neighborhood, have sought to shield themselves from the impact of Washington’s extra-territorial sanctions, with limited success. </s> Germany has banned Iran's Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the airline's involvement in Syria, officials said Monday.

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

The decision to ban it came after consultations with European allies and the U.S., Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.

"It cannot be ruled out that this airline carries out transports to Germany that affect our security concerns," he said.

"This is especially true against the backdrop of terrorist activities, intelligence on terrorist activities from the Iranian side and Iranian entities in Europe in the past."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 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. "We encourage all our allies to follow suit."

The airline had several weekly flights between Tehran and German cities.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger said the decision was taken to safeguard Germany's "foreign and security policy interests," citing increasing evidence of Iranian intelligence activity in Europe.

In addition, he said the airline has ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and provides military transport flights to Syria. Iran has supported Syria's President Bashar Assad.

The move comes at a time of particularly sensitive relations with Iran. Germany plays a large role in trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran after U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally pull out last year.

It was the latest of several issues, however, that have caused friction.

Among other things, German prosecutors said last week they had detained a 50-year-old German-Afghan dual citizen who had worked as a translator for the army on suspicion he had been spying for Iran.

Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations on the weekend, saying that "enemies" were aiming to "sour relations" between Iran and Europe.

And last year, Germany's central bank changed its conditions allowing it to block transfers unless it receives assurances a transaction doesn't violate financial sanctions or money-laundering rules - prompting Iran to rescind a request to repatriate 300 million euros ($341 million) from a Hamburg-based bank. </s> Germany has banned Iran's Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the airline's involvement in Syria.

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

The decision to ban the airline came after consultations with European allies and the US, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.

"It cannot be ruled out that this airline carries out transports to Germany that affect our security concerns," said Seibert.

"This is especially true against the backdrop of terrorist activities, intelligence on terrorist activities from the Iranian side and Iranian entities in Europe in the past."

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 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. "We encourage all our 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 time of sensitive relations with Iran. Germany plays a large role in trying to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran after US President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally pull out of it last year.

German firms have come under intense pressure from the US to halt their business with Iran. As a result, rail operator Deutsche Bahn, telecom company Deutsche Telekom, Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and industrial group Siemens have said they will stop their operations in the country.

The European Union earlier this month targeted sanctions at Iran's security services and two of its leaders, accused of involvement in a series of murders and planned attacks against Tehran critics in the Netherlands, Denmark and France.

The mounting pressure over Iran is increasing following President Trump's decision last year to pull Washington out of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty it had reached with Tehran under his predecessor Barack Obama. </s> The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions Thursday against five "Iran-based entities subordinate to a key element of Iran's ballistic missile program." The five entities targeted are subsidiaries of Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group (SBIG), which is part of Iran's Defense Ministry. While Shahid is already under U.S. sanctions, the new designations ensure its subsidiaries are also punished.

"These sanctions target key entities involved in Iran's ballistic missile program, which the Iranian regime prioritizes over the economic well-being of the Iranian people," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. "As the Iranian people suffer, their government and the IRGC fund foreign militants, terrorist groups, and human rights abuses."

"The United States will continue to decisively counter the Iranian regime's malign activity, including additional sanctions targeting human rights abuses," Mnuchin added.

The sanctions come after a week of protests in Iran, although the sanctions are not related to the unrest, The Associated Press reports. Last month U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley showed reporters missile parts with logos suggesting they were manufactured by Shahid. Haley said the fragments were recovered from missiles Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched at Saudi Arabia in Yemen. </s> The Treasury announced new sanctions Thursday on five Iranian entities affiliated with the country's ballistic missile program.



All five Iranian entities are subordinates of the Iranian company Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group.

The new restrictions will prevent the entities from dealing financially with U.S. citizens and financial institutions. 



The announcement comes as tens of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets, including in the nation's capital of Tehran, to protest the government. </s> BERLIN (AP) — The German government is banning Mahan Air from landing in the country with immediate effect, citing security concerns and the Iranian airline’s involvement in Syria.

A foreign ministry spokesman said Monday the decision was taken to safeguard Germany’s “foreign and security policy interests.”

Burger told reporters in Berlin that the airline has ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and provides military transport flights to Syria. Iran has supported Syria’s President Bashar Assad

The airline has several weekly flights between Tehran and German cities.

The Mahan Air is on a U.S. sanctions list and Washington has long urged allies to ban the airline from their territory.
The U.S. Treasury Department announces sanctions for a Malaysia-based sales agent for Mahan Air in connection with Iran's alleged support for international terrorism.