Netanyahu welcomes three airlines' exit from Iranian market
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is visiting Lithuania, welcomed the withdrawal of three European airlines from the Iranian market on Thursday, September 2, and said that other companies should do the same.
Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference: "Today we learned that three companies, British Airways, KLM and Air France, have terminated their activities in Iran. This is good news, others should do the same, they will do the same, because Iran should not be rewarded for its aggression in the region and its efforts to spread terrorism."
Hours before Netanyahu's speech, British Airways and Air France announced the suspension of their flights to Iran in the coming weeks, partly due to the economic unprofitability of these flights; the Dutch company KLM, which is part of the Air France group, had previously announced the suspension of its flights in the near future for similar reasons.
Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his four-day visit to the Baltic Sea region is planned with the aim of "creating a balance in Israel's relations with the governments of northeastern Europe compared to his government's relations with Western European countries."
According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu also said on Thursday before leaving Tel Aviv that he would also discuss with the leaders of the three countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia "the need to coordinate with US sanctions against Iran."
On Sunday and Monday of this week, Benjamin Netanyahu met with US National Security Advisor John Bolton, who had visited Israel, to discuss coordinating Israeli and US actions regarding Iran.
John Bolton also said at a press conference in Jerusalem at the end of his trip to Israel that the effects of sanctions against Iran go beyond American assessments.
Last week, the United States formed the Iran Action Group within its State Department; previously, Israeli media had reported the formation of cooperation and coordination committees between important Israeli and American institutions with the aim of closely monitoring the implementation of sanctions against Iran.
The embargo on passenger flights is not part of the US's punitive measures against Iran, either in the first round of sanctions against Iran, which was imposed on August 5, or in the next round of sanctions, which will take effect on November 4.
However, the significant decline in the value of the Iranian currency against foreign currencies, which has intensified in recent weeks and may be considered a secondary effect of the sanctions, has made international and even domestic flights in Iran unprofitable, as many middle-class Iranians can no longer afford to buy airline tickets.
The decision by three major European airlines to suspend flights to Iran has been announced at a time when the three European countries involved in the JCPOA, after the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal on May 8, are trying to assure that Iran will continue to benefit from the benefits if it remains committed to the JCPOA.
Despite the political will of the three European powers, not only have dozens of companies on the continent stopped cooperating with Iran, but the three European countries have also not yet been able to provide a real practical solution to ensure that the JCPOA remains in force; something that Iran has also repeatedly complained about in recent times.
Despite the suspension of flights by these three airlines, the AFP writes that the German companies Lufthansa and the Italian Alitalia are still continuing their flights to Iran.
Source: Radio Farda
