On July 28, 2025, local time, multiple foreign media outlets, including American media, collectively broke the news that Iran Mahan Air had taken five large Boeing 777 aircraft from the United States in a "secret operation." According to the "Middle East Forum Observer," Iran Mahan Air secretly purchased five Boeing 777 aircraft, which involved shell companies and several countries, constituting a complex U.S. sanctions evasion operation. These large aircraft were originally operated by Singapore Airlines, then smuggled from Cambodia to Iran, marking a significant expansion of Mahan Air's fleet and raising concerns about the effectiveness of U.S. and EU sanctions.

July 28, newspaper screenshot from Israeli media

The "Middle East Forum Observer" based on world flight track information, Iran once again used special means to successfully obtain large civil aviation aircraft made in the United States, bypassing U.S. sanctions and restrictions, and successfully taking away five large Boeing 777 aircraft. This is the first time that an Iranian aviation company has obtained the Boeing 777-200ER model. The five large Boeing aircraft, previously belonging to Singapore Airlines and used by KLM, were stored in Australia after retirement. Then they were sold to an American company, which stored these planes in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. Subsequently, an Indonesian company bought these five Boeing 777 aircraft, and then these large planes flew to Cambodia for storage. In Cambodia, Iran conducted a secret modification, removing all American markings on the Boeing 777 aircraft and painting them with Madagascar numbers.

It is said that five large Boeing B777-200ER aircraft from the United States were directly flown to Iran through India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan airspace.

It is reported that during the conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, five large Boeing B777-200ER aircraft were transported from Cambodia's Siem Reap Angkor International Airport to Iran. These aircraft were temporarily registered in Madagascar, supposedly for the mysterious startup airline UDAAN. The registration numbers of these five large aircraft are 5R-RIS (msn 32334), 5R-ISA (msn 30866), 5R-HER (msn 28522), 5R-IJA (msn 28527), and 5R-RIJ (msn 33369). These large aircraft were quickly transported from Cambodia to Iran. Iranian media reported that two of the planes landed at Chabahar Airport, two at Zahedan Airport, and one at Mashhad Airport.

Iran acquired the sealed Boeing aircraft through secret means

The Malagasy Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed that these large aircraft were registered in Madagascar on January 17, 2025, under the name UDAAN Airlines, with a temporary license valid for three months. This mysterious company, aside from its name, is otherwise unknown, claiming to operate as a Malagasy airline. The Malagasy regulator later accused these large aircraft of having used forged registration certificates when departing from Cambodia. At the same time, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization confirmed that these five large aircraft made in the United States have successfully arrived in Iran and will soon be included in the Iranian civil aviation register. Iran Mahan Airlines is considering replacing some A340 aircraft. Currently, Iran Mahan Airlines operates 9 A340-300 and 6 A340-600 aircraft.

Iran repeatedly acquired Boeing and Airbus large aircraft through secret means

Iran Mahan Airlines has been sanctioned by the United States since 2011, with the reason being that it is suspected of transporting weapons and personnel to conflict areas such as Syria and Yemen for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. This is not the first time that Iran has received large Western-made aircraft through secret operations. In December 2022, Iran Mahan Company purchased four Airbus A340 aircraft via South Africa; in April 2025, Iran Airlines purchased two A330 aircraft via Oman. Previously, the U.S. Treasury had imposed sanctions on Malaysian and Armenian companies, as these two companies provided convenience for Iran to purchase and transfer Western-made large aircraft.

Iranian civil aviation aircraft are too old

Now, not only is the Iranian Air Force seriously lacking in modern fighter jets, transporters, anti-submarine aircraft, early warning aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft, refueling aircraft, and helicopters, but the Iranian aviation industry is also seriously lacking. U.S. aviation experts point out that Iran's large number of aging aircraft, as of 2024, only about 150 out of 350 aircraft were still in operation. Iran faces strict U.S. and Western sanctions, and the U.S. prohibits the export of aircraft containing more than 10% American-made components. Therefore, the Iranian aviation industry must find every possible way to obtain large aircraft made in the United States and the West. Iran has previously done this to acquire "new" aircraft to support its aviation industry. These five American-made Boeing large aircraft are unlikely to be handed over to the Iranian Air Force for conversion into specialized aircraft platforms. They should be used to supplement Iran's difficult civil aviation. Mainly, Iran's civil aviation has obtained Boeing-777 aircraft. How to handle spare parts? The market for aviation materials is vast and complex, most of which are common parts, and can be easily purchased in the civilian market, just like car parts. It is almost impossible to regulate.

C-919 is not big enough to meet Iran's needs

Can Iran not buy our large aircraft? It's not a purchasing issue. China currently has no domestically produced large wide-body aircraft product at the level of the Boeing 777-200ER available for sale. The Boeing 777-200ER is a wide-body long-range aircraft, equivalent to the long-range model in the C929 plan. This hasn't been designed yet, so we cannot provide it. Even though the Boeing-777 is slightly larger than the C929, in terms of carrying capacity and flight distance, certain models of the C929 should be able to meet similar needs.

China will rely on the 100% domestically developed C-929 large aircraft to achieve large aircraft exports

Iran needs Boeing 777-type long-range wide-body aircraft, while the C-919 is a medium-range narrow-body aircraft. Our current only products are the C-909, a short-range regional jet weighing 40 tons, and the C-919, an 80-ton medium-range narrow-body mainline aircraft. The domestic civil aircraft industry currently does not have a 300-ton class intercontinental wide-body aircraft. Moreover, Russia's own large aircraft are not even sufficient for their own civil aviation. There is no ready-made product, and people cannot wait for you to slowly develop and produce. They need to solve the urgent problem of their civil aviation fleets immediately.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7532316135664960034/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author. Please express your opinion below using the [up/down] buttons.