Mahan Air (W5, Tehran Mehrabad) has deployed its first of seven recently delivered A340-600s into revenue service analysis of flight data has revealed. EP-MMH (cn 391), formerly 9H-TEP with Hi Fly Malta (3L, Malta International), was seen in service on the Iranian carrier's Tehran Mehrabad-Mashad-Tehran Imam Khomeini-Dubai International-Tehran Imam Khomeini service on June 1.
Owing to stringent US sanctions imposed on Iran following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Mahan Air, as with other Iranian carriers, is unable to source its capacity needs through traditional channels and there relies on clandestine means. In this instance, the A340-600s were sourced via Mahan Air's Iraqi proxy, Al-Naser Airlines (Baghdad).
In October 2011, the US Department of the Treasury also named the carrier a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for providing financial, material and technological support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force.
