On Thursday, Iran’s public broadcaster announced it had smuggled two planes out of Lithuania.
The two planes, Airbus A340s, leased by the Gambian company Macka Invest, were supposed to fly to South Asia in February but ended up in Iran. The aircraft’s transponders were turned off upon entry into Iranian airspace. According to aviation data website ch-aviation, one plane landed at Mehrabad airport in Tehran and another at Konarak airport in Chabahar.
News of the smuggling was first reported by vz.lt, a Lithuanian business news website. They reported that the two airplanes are now in the possesion of the Iranian aviation company Mahan Air, in order to evade US sanctions.
The director of Šiauliai Airport in Lithuania, Aurelija Kuezada, said a third plane was prevented from taking off because they ” assume[d] that it could have landed in Iran as well.”
“Nothing could have prevented that,” Kuezada added, “So, we just didn’t let it go when we found out that the first plane had landed in Iran.”
This incident is not the first time Iran smuggled planes into the country. Back in December 2022, Iran International reported that four commercial Airbus A340 turned of their transponders and landed in Iran, after taking off from Johannesburg, South Africa, on their way to Uzbekistan.
According to the Washington Institute, economic sanctions prevent Iran from purchasing new planes. The cost to purchase one the smuggled planes is over $150 million.
{Matzav.com}
