A Norwegian passenger plane experienced technical problems on December 14 last year and had to land in Shiraz, Iran.

Those on board were allowed to travel to Oslo the following day – but the plane is still standing.

It was a US-made Boeing 737 plane with 186 passengers and six crew members on board that suffered a technical failure and landed in Shiraz after taking off in Dubai. After a night in Iran, those on board were allowed to travel on to Oslo, but the situation for the plane is more complicated and it seems to have been stuck due to US sanctions against Iran, writes The New York Times.

Since President Donald Trump decided in May last year that the United States would withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

The export restrictions affect, among other things, all companies that want to sell or resell something that contains more than ten percent aircraft parts or technology from the United States, Anahita Thoms, a trade lawyer at the international law firm Baker McKenzie in Düsseldorf, Germany, told the newspaper.

”"There is no way around the US sanctions. Let's assume they need a spare part and that spare part contains materials or technology that is more than ten percent US-origin - then it requires a formal US permit," she says.

Anahita Thoms says it may be difficult to obtain such a permit with the current US administration.

Norwegian media, including the news agency NTB, have reported on the problem with the aircraft. Several of them also write that the sanctions are the cause, something that Norwegian has not wanted to comment on.

The American sanctions are also so narrowly set that even manufacturers such as European Airbus and Russian Sukhoi are affected.

Many Western airlines fly regularly over Iran, but few international carriers operate from the country's airports. British Airways, Air France and KLM resumed flights to and from Tehran after the deal was struck in 2015, but closed them again last year.

Source: TT