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Iran to sue EU firms over jet fuel refusal

30 October 2010 17:54 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Iran is pursuing the refusal of certain Western companies to refuel its passenger planes through legal channels, IranAir’s chairman Farhad Parvaresh says, APA reports quoting Press TV.

"Iran is taking legal measures through appropriate channels, and the matter has been raised at the International Court of Justice at The Hague and lawyers have been appointed to follow up on it," Parvaresh said on Saturday.

"The companies which were forced to refuse fuel to Iranian planes under pressure from the US are the ones who incurred the real loss," IRNA quoted Parvaresh as saying.

The head of the Iranian flag carrier added that these companies have asked their governments to lift the restrictions because of the losses they incurred.

"These companies are under pressure and most of them, as economic institutions, are not pleased with the situation."

Parvaresh said such sanctions were in violation of international regulations and the Chicago Convention, adding that it has been cited in the recent round of sanctions that no restriction should be imposed against passenger airplanes but this fact has not been observed.

When two countries sign aerial contracts, they are duty-bound to facilitate the safe and secure flights of the other country’s national carrier, Parvaresh explained.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also warned European airports on Wednesday that Iran might retaliate for their denial of fuel to its aircraft.

"We have given the necessary warnings and if the current situation is not corrected in some European capitals, they will be faced with a countermeasure from Iran," Mottaki said,

Last week Parvaresh announced that despite European airports’ refusal to refuel IranAir planes, none of the company’s flights have been cancelled.

This comes as The Washington Post reported last week that several major oil firms, including BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Q8, have abruptly cancelled jet fuel delivery contracts with IranAir.

On June 9, the UNSC imposed a US-engineered sanctions resolution against Iran’s financial and military sectors over Western allegations that Tehran is pursuing a military nuclear program.

Following the UNSC sanctions, the US took unilateral measures against Tehran, seeking to prevent the country’s access to refined oil products and penalize foreign companies that help Iran’s energy sector.

Tehran refutes the charges, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency the country has a right to use peaceful nuclear energy.