BERLIN — 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 </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. </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.

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> 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> 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> 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> SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Some major airlines were re-routing flights on Wednesday after Europe’s air traffic control agency warned aircraft flying in the eastern Mediterranean to exercise caution due to possible air strikes into Syria.

Eurocontrol said in a notification published on Tuesday afternoon that air-to-ground and cruise missiles could be used over the following 72 hours and there was a possibility of intermittent disruption to radio navigation equipment.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Western allies are discussing possible military action to punish Syria’s President Bashar Assad for a suspected poison gas attack on Saturday on a rebel-held town that had long held out against government forces.

Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines, one of the few to fly directly over Syria, is rerouting those flights temporarily, a Beirut airport source said.

A spokeswoman for Air France said the airline had changed some flights paths following the warning, including for Beirut and Tel Aviv flights, while budget airline easyJet said it would also re-route flights from Tel Aviv.

Aviation regulators have been stepping up monitoring of conflict zones since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed by a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

Recent warnings have tended to be after military action has started, and so Eurocontrol’s pre-emptive notice suggests a heightening of regulatory scrutiny.

Trump on Tuesday cancelled a planned trip to Latin America later this week to focus on responding to the Syria incident, the White House said.

Trump on Monday warned of a quick, forceful response once responsibility for the attack was established.

The Eurocontrol warning on its website did not specify the origin of any potential missile threat.

“Due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria with air-to-ground and/or cruise missiles within the next 72 hours, and the possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment, due consideration needs to be taken when planning flight operations in the Eastern Mediterranean/Nicosia FIR area,” it said, referring to the designated airspace.

Aviation regulators in countries including the United States, Britain, France and Germany have previously issued warnings against airlines entering Syrian airspace, leading most carriers to avoid the area.

The only commercial flights above Syria as of 0115 GMT on Wednesday were being flown by Syrian Air and Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24. At other periods later in the day, there were no flights using the airspace.

HEIGHTENED SURVEILLANCE

Eurocontrol included a broader area outside the airspace controlled by Damascus in its statement.

A spokesman for Germany’s Lufthansa said on Wednesday its airlines were aware of the Eurocontrol warning and were in close contact with authorities.

“As a proactive precaution, Lufthansa Group airlines have already avoided the airspace in the eastern Mediterranean for some time now,” he said.

Ryanair, British Airways, Etihad Airways, and Royal Jordanian representatives said flights were operating normally at their respective airlines, but the situation was being monitored closely.

Emirates also said it was closely monitoring the situation and that it would “make adjustments as needed”.

EgyptAir is not currently planning changes to flight paths following the warning, a source close to the matter said.

Israel’s flag carrier El Al declined to comment. EgyptAir and several other major airlines that fly in the area did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The Nicosia flight information region named in the Eurocontrol statement covers the island of Cyprus and surrounding waters, according to a map on the agency’s website.

The same map did not designate any specific territory as being the “Eastern Mediterranean” region.

Last year, North Korea tested missiles without warning, leading some airlines to re-route flights to avoid portions of the Sea of Japan.

FILE PHOTO: The logo of Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic regulator, is seen on the facade of its headquarters in Brussels July 18, 2014. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo

Eurocontrol’s warning cited a document from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Europe’s safety regulator.

EASA warned of a danger to aircraft flying over Iran, Iraq, and the Caspian sea in October 2015 after Russia fired cruise missiles at Syrian targets from the Caspian Sea.

An EASA spokesman said it had informed member states and Eurocontrol of its cautionary message on Tuesday.
Germany revokes the license of Iranian airline Mahan Air, citing the airline's involvement in Syria and other security concerns.