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US mistakenly sell three fighting helicopters to Iran

14 December 2009 09:36 (UTC +04:00)

Washington â€“ APA. Despite US sanctions against Iran, three US-made Bell 412 fighting-transport helicopters were sold to Iran. According to APA, two helicopters were already sent to Iran and another one is waiting at the Arlington air base for 14 months. The investigation showed that two first helicopters were sent to Italy and then purchasers of the helicopters sent a request to the producer company â€œPanalpinaâ€ about the expenses of direct transportation of helicopters from the United States to Iran. After that Panalpina rejected to carry out the shipment and sent a letter of complain to the US Department of Commerce, which urged them to hinder third helicopter at the Arlington air base.

The Italian company, Tiber Aviation SRL bought three Bell 412 helicopters from Helivan SA of Mexico for about $22 million. Bell Helicopter says it leased three helicopters to Helivan in Tarrant County but that Helivan was not authorized to sell them. Tiber asked Swiss-based shipping company Panalpina Inc. to transport the first two helicopters through North Texas to Italy, said Panalpina official. Tiber has denied intending to ship any of the helicopters to Iran, according to court documents. The ownership of the helicopter is in dispute in a pending lawsuit between Tiber and Textron Financial Corp., a unit of Bell Helicopter Textron, Bell Helicopter’s parent company. US call this operation as a gross violation of sanctions.