Iran seeks direct flights with U.S.

The International Herald Tribune:

Iran has asked the United States to allow direct flights between the two countries after a break of more than two decades, a senior civil aviation official said Thursday. READ MORE

"We sent a letter to the relevant American officials on Wednesday, announcing Iran's willingness to resume direct flights," Nourollah Rezai-Niaraki, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation, said on state television.

He said the decision to make the request was made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad because of demand from the large Iranian community living in the United States. "They have repeatedly complained about wasting time and losing their baggage on connecting flights," he said.

Iranian airliners have been barred from the United States since the U.S. government broke ties with Tehran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

An Iranian civil aviation spokesman said Ahmadinejad's decision did not signal any move to try to improve relations between the two countries. "I hope American officials do not adopt a political stance in making a decision on this request," said the spokesman, Reza Jafarzadeh.

Iran is subject to U.S. economic sanctions imposed in 1996, under the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act. Owing to the sanctions, Iran has struggled to maintain its ageing fleet of aircraft, mostly U.S.-built Boeing planes bought before the 1979 revolution.