Tehran, Iran, Jan.11
Trend:
The US sanctions against Iran have caused certain problems for Norway, as the Norwegian Air Jet is still stuck in Iran's Shiraz airport due to inability to import spare parts to fix the damaged plane.
"If the airline has a problem, it should solve the problem by itself, there is no problem from our side," spokesman for Iran Civil Aviation Organization Reza Jafarzadeh told Trend.
A technical error in one of the engines of Norwegian air jet prompted the landing on Dec. 14, while 186 passengers and six crew members spent the night in Iran and flew to Oslo the next day. However the plane is caught up in the US sanctions against Iran, since the United States sanctions on Tehran’s nuclear program prohibit civilian aircraft sales, including services and parts.
Meanwhile, Jafarzadeh noted that the Norwegian side has not reported such a problem to the Iranian authorities.
"The airline decided to make an emergency landing and allow passengers to stay in Iran. Iran, as a host country, has no responsibility over these decisions," said the official.
Responding to question that if Iran has issued visa for Norwegian Air crew and passengers, he said this was a legal process like any other that involved passengers and an emergency landing.
"Each international flight that is forced into an emergency landing in any country, requires necessary measures, the Norwegian Air had the same procedure," Jafarzadeh said.
"Every airline is responsible for their passengers and their decision to land in a third country due to technical error is their decision," he said. "For example if an airline makes an alternative flight, or transfers passengers to another airline, and in the meantime, they have to reside in another country, until the plane is ready to take off."
Referring to the problem of the Norwegian aircraft regarding the import of parts and experts, due to sanctions imposed on Iran, Jafarzadeh said Iran has no knowledge of this problem.
"Until today, the airline company has not discussed any of this with Iran's aviation authorities. If they have problems, usually the aviation organizations of the two countries solve them, but until now, Iran has no knowledge of such issues," he said.
"If they had a problem in Iran, the local authorities should've received reports on that, but nothing has been received so far," Jafarzadeh said.