Iran Focus
London, 7 Nov – It has been discovered that the Iranian Qods force, a more militant wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that was sanctioned by the US for terrorism, has been operating one of its entities as a private company, according to a study by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
The study found that Mahan Air Corporation has had extensive relationships with the Iranian Regime since its first days- even using government facilities to launch and expand its company. It is not merely working with the IRGC and the Qods but it fully owned and operated by them.
The report reads: “The Mahan Corporation was established shortly after the formation of the Qods Force as a centralized force and a foreign organ of the Revolutionary Guards Corps. This does not appear to be a coincidence, given the background of some of the company’s highest officials… Most of the main members of the Mahan Company have been born in Kerman and most are members of the Revolutionary Guards and specifically commanders of the Qods Force. Their relationships precede Mahan’s founding.”
But why?
Well, Iranian airline companies (like Iran Air, Mahan Air Company, Meraj and Caspian Airlines) have been subjected to international sanctions over the years for links to terrorism; in part because of their role in transferring operatives and weapons across international borders and into crisis areas in the Middle East, like Syria, to exacerbate the problem.
The Regime hopes that by portraying Mahan Air Corporation (and many others) as a private company, it can avoid the sanctions and still use them to export terrorism, war, and fundamentalism across the Middle East.
Of course, Iran barely has a private sector anymore. The Regime controls almost everything in the country, making it hard to separate out sanctions on the Regime and sanctions on the whole country.
The report read: “It has become clearer now that a large part of the Iranian economy is in the hands of the Revolutionary Guards and its affiliated institutions, and the benefits of economic relations with this regime go directly to the Revolutionary Guards Corps and serve the domestic repression and the export of terrorism and fundamentalism and warfare in the region and in the world.”
What must be done?
The report made these recommendations:
• The Iranian Regime- and all its subsidiaries- must be denied access to the global banking system for their role in terrorist activity.
• Mahan Air Corporation and its affiliates must be subject to comprehensive international sanctions in order to stop the export of arms and troops to war zones.
• The Iranian Regime and its proxy groups must be expelled from the Middle East.
