TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran complained yesterday that its planes had been denied fuel in Germany, Britain and the United Arab Emirates, and Washington said commercial firms were making the “right choices” by cutting business ties with Tehran.
The Financial Times newspaper said oil major BP had stopped refuelling Iranian jets. BP declined to confirm the report but said: “We fully comply with any international sanctions imposed in countries where we operate.”
Pressure is mounting on Iran over its nuclear programme and the United States has stepped up its push to isolate Tehran economically. On Thursday, President Barack Obama signed into law far-reaching sanctions that aim to squeeze the Islamic Republic’s fuel imports and deepen its international isolation.
“Since last week, our planes have been refused fuel at airports in Britain, Germany and UAE because of the sanctions imposed by America,” Mehdi Aliyari, secretary of the Iranian Airlines Union, told Iran’s ISNA news agency. So far national carrier Iran Air and Mahan Airlines had been affected, he said.
Washington has not spelled out whether its new sanctions are intended to require firms to refuse to fuel Iranian jets at airports in third countries, but US officials made clear they were pleased with reports sanctions had begun to bite.
