Russian commercial pilots ordered out of Iran

06.03.2010 17:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Iran has given Russian commercial pilots working in
the Islamic Republic two months to leave the country as it has no need
for them, Transport Minister Hamid Behbahani has been quoted as
saying.

The move is a further sign of strains between Iran and Russia, which
has indicated it could back new sanctions against Tehran over its
disputed nuclear work. For its part, Iran has voiced frustration over
Moscow’s failure to deliver a defense missile system.

Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency said the idea to order the
Russian pilots to leave the country gained momentum after a
Russian-made aircraft caught fire as it landed in northeastern Iran in
January, injuring more than 40 people.

The plane belonged to Iran’s Taban airline but the pilot was Russian,
Fars said. It did not say how many Russians currently worked as pilots
for Iranian airlines.

"Upon an order from the president [Mahmud Ahmadinejad], the Road and
Transport Ministry has set a two-month deadline, upon the expiry of
which all Russian pilots will have to leave the country," Behbahani
said.

"When our country itself possesses plenty of professional and
specialist pilots, there is no need to bring in pilots from abroad,"
he told Fars.

Iran has suffered a string of crashes in the past few decades, many
involving Russian-made aircraft.

In 2009 a Tupolev aircraft flying to Armenia caught fire in midair and
crashed, killing all 168 people on board.

U.S. sanctions against Iran have prevented it from buying new aircraft
or spare parts from the West, forcing it to supplement its ageing
fleet of Boeing and Airbus planes with aircraft from Russia and other
former Soviet states.

Behbahani said about 120 aircraft out of 193 planes in Iran’s
commercial fleet were currently active, with the rest grounded for one
reason or another.

Russia, which has significant trade ties with Iran, is among six world
powers trying to find a diplomatic solution to the long-running
dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Moscow has indicated it could support new sanctions against Iran
provided they are not too severe. Iran denies Western accusations that
its nuclear work is aimed at developing bombs.

Iranian officials have voiced growing frustration at Russia’s failure
to supply the advanced S-300 missile defense system, which Israel and
the United States do not want Tehran to have. Russia last month said
it would not sell weapons if it leads to destabilization in any
region, Reuters reported.