January 10, 2020
The United States has charged an Indonesian man with a unique way of violating US sanctions on Iran. Sunarko Kuntjoro stands charged with shipping aircraft parts that had been used and broke down in Iran back to the United States for repair and then returned them to Mahan Air, the airline the United States says is a front for the Pasdaran.
The December 10 indictment says Kuntjoro kept this up for seven years, from 2011 to 2018, an unusually long time before US law enforcement caught up with him.
The indictment says he handled millions of dollars of aircraft parts, which probably puts him near the top of the league of sanctions violators.
Kuntjoro, 68, is the president-director of PT MS Aero Support in Indonesia.
One week later, the same US attorney indicted two other foreign nationals—Issam Sham-mout, 48, of Jordan and Ali Abdullah Alhay, 61, of Saudi Arabia—for sending aircraft parts in violation of sanctions law to Mahan Air. They stand accused of helping Mahan Air for three years, from August 2012 through May 2015.
As near as the Iran Times can tell from its files, Alhay is the first Saudi national ever charged by the United States with violating sanctions to benefit Iran.
The announcements from the US attorney’s office did not say where the three men are currently located and whether they are under detention. But when a public announcement is made of an indictment, it usually means those indicted are being held in the United States or are under detention abroad with a US extradition request pending against them.
