Page 35 - IRANRptMay19

core features of the INSTC.
Crucially, last November, the US State Department exempted the port project in Chabahar from sanctions in recognition of its importance to landlocked Afghanistan’s growth and development as well as to India’s need to bypass Pakistan to trade with both Afghanistan and Central Asia. In potential trade terms, the project is also seen as very important by Iran’s remote neighbour Turkmenistan.
Chabahar, designated a free trade zone, is seen as India’s direct response to China and Pakistan’s joint investment in the Pakistani Arabian Sea port of Gwadar, located just 80km from the Iranian port. Gwadar is a key element of a corridor linking Pakistan, Afghanistan and China under the huge multi-continental Belt and Road infrastructure project.
Iran has become able to buy planes via “a special financial channel” and “very good ones” too, Iranian Minister for Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami was reported as saying by Mehr News Agency on February 13.
Offering scant detail, Eslami said flagship carrier IranAir developed the channel and was in the process of acquiring “new” aircraft.
Together, IranAir and other Iranian airlines have in the past year seen orders for hundreds of new and nearly-new planes shelved by manufacturers including Boeing and Airbus. The reintroduction of heavy US sanctions targeted at Tehran caused the aircraft producers to back away from supplying Iran. Non-US plane makers, such as Airbus, are subject to the threat of secondary sanctions because their planes contain major components supplied by US companies.
Facing the question as to whether the planes being bought were brand new, Eslami reportedly responded that "new or used does not make sense in aircraft purchases; they are very good planes, nonetheless".
The last delivery of new planes to Iran was ATR’s dispatching of 13 turbo-prop regional airliners to Iran before sanctions reimposed by the US kicked in last August.
Any plane with at least 10% of its components sourced from the US falls foul of the sanctions regime if delivered to Iran. Russia’s Sukhoi, which has been exploring supplying Iran with short-haul airliners, faces that dilemma. However, there have been local reports of Russian officials saying Sukhoi is working on scaling down the number of US parts with an eye on winning an Iranian order for up to 100 aircraft.
Iranian officials have previously pointed out that there is a humanitarian angle to aircraft supply, in that if Iranian airlines cannot get hold of new civilian aircraft there is a higher risk of accidents occurring.
9.1.4 Construction sector news
Iran’s latest estimate for damage caused by its flooding disaster stands at around Iranian rial (IRR) 350 trillion ($2.5bn at the free market exchange rate).
Lawmakers gave that figure to state media on April 15, pointing to the extent of damage to roads, bridges, homes and agricultural land, among other impacts. Some estimates in circulation quoted by local media outlets suggest another IRR175 trillion may soon be added to the bill.
The flooding began on March 19 as Iran prepared to enter its long Nowruz Persian new year holidays. Some 76 people are known to have lost their lives in the deluge, the worst for at least 50 years. More than 220,000 people,
35 IRAN Country Report May 2019 www.intellinews.com