Page 47 - IRANRptFeb22

IMore than half of Iranian airlines’ planes grounded due to impact of US sanctions says industry association lead
families," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Ukrainian and Canadian officials strongly criticised the transfers, saying compensation should not be settled through unilateral declarations.
Government assistance is needed to help Iran’s airlines deal with a situation in which more than half the aircraft in the country are grounded because of a lack of parts, especially engines, the vice chairman of the board of directors of the Iranian Association of Airlines has told IRNA.
Alireza Barkhor reportedly said in a December 6 interview: "We hope that one of the government's priorities will be to assist and provide facilities to airlines in providing the necessary parts and rehabilitating grounded aircraft."
US sanctions have shut Iran’s airlines out of the global aircraft and aviation components market. Orders for scores of Boeing and Airbus passenger planes are among contracts that have not been fulfilled in the past four years due to the sanctions, while the carriers are known to search the black market for parts that suppliers refuse to supply Iran under the noses of sanctions enforcers. Tehran has previously angrily remonstrated against the “inhumane” US penalties impacting its airlines, saying that they undermine the repair and maintenance programmes for planes and lead to the flying of older aircraft, thus raising the chances of accidents occurring.
Barkhor was also cited as saying that the number of grounded aircraft stood at more than 170.
"If this trend continues, we will see more planes being grounded in the near future," he was further reported as saying.
9.1.4 Transport sector news
Director general of Iran’s Chabahar Free Zone reported as arrested for “major offences”
First Pakistan-Iran-Turke y freight train in a decade reaches Ankara
The director general of Iran's Chabahar Free Zone, an economic development project in the southeast of the country centred on the sole Iranian oceanic port, has been arrested for "major offences", state news agency IRNA reported on January 23.
Abdorahim Kordi was placed in custody by the prosecutor in Sistan-Baluchistan province, according to a cited statement from the intelligence branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Details on the allegations made against Kordi were not provided.
Kordi was made director general of the free trade zone in 2016.
Chabahar port, located on the Gulf of Oman about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Pakistan, enables ships to avoid the busy Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for shipping moving in and out of the Persian Gulf.
By 2015, about 2,000 companies had a presence in the zone, AFP said. Half were said to be from Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Gulf, while 30% were from China and other Asian countries. The remaining 20% were from the West. When the US reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran in 2018, Chabahar port was the only Iranian port that was granted an exemption from the sanctions given its importance to developing the economy of landlocked Afghanistan. Iran is jointly developing the port with India, which lies directly across the Indian Ocean from Chabahar.
The first freight train in a decade to travel from Pakistan to Turkey, via Iran, reached Ankara last week, according to media reports in the three countries.
The train departed from Lahore and travelled through Tehran before crossing the border into Turkey. The train completed what was expected to be a journey of up to 17 days in 13 days.
47 IRAN Country Report February 2022 www.intellinews.com