Pilot sues US over sanctions on Iran’s aviation industry

TIN news:     An Iranian pilot has filed lawsuit against the US for its unilateral sanctions on Iran’s aerospace sector.
 
Cap. Houshang Shahbazi officially handed in the documents to Tehran’s 55th Branch, Shahid Beheshti Judicial Complex. His legal proctor Azam Momeni has drafted the lawsuit.
 
“The US has sanctioned Iran to force the country to change its official line of policy or to prepare the conditions for a regime change; its unilateral sanctions especially on Iran’s aviation industry including the ban on selling of plane spare part, and also contract agreements on repair and maintenance services for Iranian airlines has deprived Iranian citizens of their international rights,” reads part of the lawsuit. “During recent years, the plane crash as a result of flights with a very old air fleet (by international standards) has resulted in death of more than 1500 civilians,” the lawsuit adds.
 
The lawsuit also raises serious allegations against the US such as crime against humanity, which it believes, “its sanctions negatively affected the security and safety of flights, where the main victims of the sanctions and its overreaching implications are Iranian citizens; the structure of the sanctions regime is the most revealing example of crime against humanity.”
 
“The sanctions purportedly seeks to prevent threat to international peace and security; while governments are bound by commitments signed by the same countries in international conventions (UN Charter, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), etc.), and other rights recognized by international community; the US has, since the Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979, sanctioned the selling of plane parts especially Boing, which is surprisingly civilian passenger plane,” notes the lawsuit. “With so many losses of lives during plane crashes in Iran, the sanctions have gone unnoticed in human rights issues,” reads part of the lawsuit.
 
“According to international conventions and documents of international air transport organizations such as ICAO, no restrictions would be made against civilian airlines of countries; while the US sanctions violates these laws and provisions through banning on selling plane parts and services to Iran,” reads elsewhere in the lawsuit.
 
Nearly two years ago, thanks to his experience, Cap. Shahbzai managed to successfully land a Boeing 727 flight from Moscow to Tehran with 97 passengers and 19 crew staff aboard, 15 miles away from Imam Khomeini Airport in an emergency landing after the front wheels couldn’t open due to technical problems.