BIS shuts down exports to Mahan Air partners

   The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security on Thursday added Mahan Air General Trading of the United Arab Emirates, as well as Skyco (UK) Ltd. and Equipco (UK) Ltd. of the United Kingdom, to a “temporary denial order” (TDO) issued to halt the illegal transfer and operation of aircraft subject to BIS regulation by Iran-based Mahan Air.
   The order expands the TDO to include three additional parties, all related to Mahan Air. Under the order, these three parties may not participate in or benefit from any transaction subject to the Export Administration Regulations while the TDO remains in effect. It is also a violation of the EAR for any person to participate in a transaction subject to the EAR involving a Denied Person, including any of these three related parties.
   On Oct. 12, 2011, the Treasury Department designated Mahan Air as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for providing financial, material and technological support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
   Temporary denial orders are issued by the Commerce Department’s assistant secretary for export enforcement, denying any or (typically) all of the export privileges of a company or individual to prevent on-going export control violations. These orders are issued for a renewable 180-day period and cut off not only the right to export from the United States, but also the right to receive or participate in exports from the United States.
   BIS controls exports and re-exports of “dual-use” commodities, technology, and software for reasons of national security, missile technology, nuclear non-proliferation, chemical and biological weapons non-proliferation, crime control, regional stability, foreign policy and anti-terrorism.