Iran Sanctions: To Fuel or not to Fuel……………….
“Iran says that Britain, Germany and the United Arab Emirates are refusing to provide fuel to Iranian passenger planes. The move, which has not been confirmed, follows unilateral sanctions imposed by the US, the Isna news agency reported……. "Since last week, our planes have been refused fuel at airports in Britain, Germany and UAE because of the sanctions imposed by America," Mehdi Aliyari, secretary of the Iranian Airlines Union, told the news agency. "Refusing to provide fuel to Iranian passenger planes by these countries is violation of international conventions," he said. However, a spokeswoman for the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) told Reuters that it was continuing to supply Iranian jets with fuel…."We have contracts with Iranian passenger flights and continue to allow refuelling," she said. The new US sanctions, signed into law by President Barack Obama last week, penalise foreign companies that trade with Iran. Under the new measures, any company providing fuel to Iran would be penalised under American law. An Iranian aviation official said Iranian airliners were filling up with as much fuel as possible inside Iran. But they were also having to refuel in countries along their route not imposing a ban, a move which the official said was doubling costs. …..” BBC
This fuel boycott is not imposed by the United Nations. It is not international decision: like the Cuban embargo it is only under US law, which presumably means it is not binding on anyone except American persons and corporations. It was signed by President Obama under pressure from the GOP and the Israeli lobby in a tough election year. Still, it will probably speed up Iranian expansion of domestic refineries and curtail some long range flights by Iranian jetliners.
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