Iran and Russia have signed an agreement that potentially will help Moscow evade aviation sanctions imposed by the West since the invasion of Ukraine.
The two countries plan to explore the export of spares and equipment manufactured in Iran to Russia, according to Iran’s state-owned Mehr News Agency.
Since late February, there has been a near-total ban on the provision of any aviation services to Russia. This has raised questions as to how Russian airlines will keep leased or owned Western airliners operational as they fall due for servicing.
The Iranian news agency quoted a spokesman for the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) as saying that the agreement opens up the possibility of Iran carrying out repair and maintenance services, as well as technical support, of Russian aircraft in Iran. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was announced following talks July 26 between Russia’s deputy transport minister Dmitry Zverevand and the head of the Iranian CAO, Mohammad Mohammadi-Bakhsh.
The meeting also saw the signing of an MOU to increase the number of passenger flights between Russia and Iran to 35 a week; the announcement did not give details of the current level of airline service between the two countries.
Under the MOU, airlines of the two countries will also be allowed to operate cargo flights between their national territories without capacity restrictions.
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