Two New Airliners Join Iran’s Civil Air Fleet

“Two Airbus A320 planes have joined the country’s air fleet over the past two weeks,” Pahlevani said on Saturday.

He also explained that a total of 22 new airliners have been added to the country’s national civil air fleet since beginning of the current Iranian year (started on March 21, 2013), and announced that 6 other airplanes are also due to join the fleet in the near future.

In late August, Pahlevani had announced that the country plans to boost its national civil air fleet by increasing the number of passenger planes to 500 within the next 13 years, with the aim of lowering the average age of its national fleet.

Iran has several private and public airline companies in operation. The oldest is the state-run Iran Air.

The expansion of Iran's civil aircraft fleet comes despite the US-led sanctions against the country's civil aviation industry since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The US imposed sanctions of 1995 ban aviation companies from selling aircraft and repair parts to Iranian airlines. The US sanctions endanger the safety of civil aviation in Iran because they prevent Tehran from acquiring parts and essential support for aviation safety.

The sanctions are also contrary to article 44 of the Chicago Convention, to which the US is a signatory.

The International Civil Aviation Organization -ICAO- says aviation safety affects human lives and human rights, and stands above political differences. The organization says international public pressure must be brought on the United States to lift the sanctions against Iran.