Tehran 0
29 April 2020

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reported that “over the last few days, multiple aircraft belonging to [Iran’s] Mahan Air have transferred unknown support to the Maduro regime [in Venezuela]... This is the same terrorist airline that Iran uses to move weapons and fighters around the Middle East”. He further asserted that “these flights must stop, and countries should do their part to deny overflights, just as many have already denied landing rights to this sanctioned airline”. Relatedly, the U.S. Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, argued that “the [Iranian] regime regularly claims things that are false, including that they were helping Venezuela's oil industry. But I think we can probably safely assume it's not limited to that”. Iran’s Foreign Ministry subsequently posited that U.S. policies in Venezuela “have ended in failure”, and that Washington “is making such accusations in an attempt to obstruct the Venezuelan government’s plans for reviving that country’s refineries and producing oil products, including gasoline, a shortage of which has been caused by the cruel American sanctions”.

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