Academy blocks Iranians from flight training

An aircraft pilot training academy will no longer teach students from Iran Air following recent sanctions brought by the Americans against the airline.

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Arlanda Airport in Stockholm is used as a base by the Oxford Aviation Academy, formerly the SAS Flight Academy, who have been training pilots from the Iranian airline since January this year. However, in line with American sanctions against the airline the contract between the two parties has been abandoned with immediate effect.

America claims that Iran Air has links with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, an organization that allegedly supports terrorist activity in the Middle East, according to a report in Aftonbladet.

According to reports, the airline has been providing materials and services to the IRGC. Terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp said to the paper, “There is an escalation of pressure against Iran”

Meanwhile there is little more explanation from the pilot training company.

“We have no further comment beyond the press release”, said Oxford Aviation Academy’s Emma O'Donnell at the company’s headquarters in the UK.

The organization, also known as the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution has rumoured to be behind in several major attacks in the past 20 years, including the 1983 United States Embassy bombing in Beirut.


Source: www.thelocal.se