Iran to harass ships if aircraft refuelling 'boycott' continues

IRAN says it will retaliate against the shipping and aircraft of UK, Germany and the UAE because of an alleged refusal to re-fuel its aircraft.

Iranian lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh threatened retaliation, reported Iran's Isna news agency. "Iran will do the same to ships and planes of those countries that cause problems for us," he said.

Each of the three countries denies there is any official boycott against Iran while not ruling out the possibility of private action by suppliers in the wake of US and UN sanctions for Tehran's failure to comply with International Atomic Energy Commission agreements, reports the BBC.

The UN Security Council has imposed a fourth round of sanctions on Iran and the US has enacted measures to penalise foreign companies trading with Tehran.

Said Iranian Airlines Union secretary Mehdi Aliyari: "Since last week, our planes have been refused fuel at airports in Britain, Germany and UAE because of the sanctions imposed by America. Refusing to provide fuel to Iranian passenger planes by these countries is a violation of international conventions."

Agence France-Presse quoted "a source close to the aviation sector in the UAE" as saying there had been a problem with an unnamed international fuel supplier.

"A servicing company which provides fuelling at several airports around the world has refused to provide Iranian planes with fuel, including at UAE terminals," said an unnamed source.

An Iranian aviation official said Iranian airliners were filling up inside Iran as well as refuelling in countries not imposing a ban, which had doubled costs.
(Source:www.schednet.com)