A 15 October 1997 report from Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) stated that there would be three two-way Aseman flights from Mashhad, in Iran, to Ashkabad, in Turkmenistan, on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays as of the following week.

On 26 May 1997, the Tehran newspaper Jomhuri-ye Eslami reported that officers of Aseman Air Services Company had been sentenced in connection with the 1995 crash of an Asseman Fokker-28 in Mehr. The company's managing director, Ali Abedzadeh, was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, as was the deputy managing director for support and engineering Iraj Rownaqi; and Mohammed Reza Nuri, the "supervisor of the technical group," was sentenced to four months' imprisonment. The convicted officers were also ordered to pay "blood money" to the families of 63 people who died in the crash. It should be noted that an IRNA dispatch of 15 November 1995 reported on the conviction and sentencing of the same people. According to that dispatch, Ali Abedzadeh and Iraj Runaqi (Rownaqi) were each sentenced to two years' imprisonment, as was Ezatollah Baba'i Kashkaki, Aseman Airlines' "deputy managing-director for flight standard" (ibid.). Mohammed Reza Nuri was not mentioned by name, but the dispatch stated that "the head of the technical group of Fokker-28 was sentenced to six months" (ibid.). Seyyed Razi Musavi, Aseman Airlines' "head of the technical team on duty," was acquitted (ibid.).

Despite the reported conviction and sentence of November 1995, the 1 May 1996 issue of Keyhan-e Hava'i reported that Iranian Transport Minister Akbar Torkan had renewed Ali Abedzadeh's appointment as "chairman of the board of directors and general manager of Aseman Air Services Company" for another three years.

According to a 3 February 1997 IRNA dispatch, Transportation Minister Akbar Torkan stated that Aseman airlines had bought four Boeing and four Fokker F-28 aircraft over the previous two years.

In response to a questionnaire published in Keyhan on 13 February 1995, Transportation Minister Akbar Torkan stated that in 1994 "the Iranian National Airlines Company had increased the number of its seats to 7,274, the [private] Aseman Company to 1,450 seats and all other Iranian companies by 1,500 seats for domestic and international routes" (square brackets in the original).

Aseman is referred to as "state-owned" in a Flight International report of 22 November 1989 and a Reuters dispatch of 21 February 1986.

Information on any connection between Aseman and the Sepah Pasdaran or Komiteh could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Flight International. 22 November 1989. "Iran Expansion." (NEXIS)

Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) [Tehran, in English]. 15 October 1997. "Iran: Number of Flights from Northern Iran to Ashkabad to Rise." (FBIS-NES-97-288 15 Oct. 1997/WNC)

_____. 3 February 1997. "Iran: Transportation Ministry's Post-Revolution Performance." (FBIS-NES-97-024 3 Feb. 1997/WNC)

_____. 15 November 1995. "Officials Responsible for Plane Crash Sentenced." (FBIS-NES-95-221 15 Nov. 1995/WNC)

Jomhuri-ye Eslami [Tehran, in Persian]. 26 May 1997. "Iran: Court Jails Aseman Airlines Officials Over Crash." (FBIS-NES-97-150 30 May 1997/WNC)

Keyhan [Tehran, in Persian]. 13 February 1995. "Ministers Respond to Keyhan Questionnaire ( Transport Minister Torkan." (FBIS-NES-95-035 13 Feb. 1995/WNC)

Keyhan-e Hava'i [Tehran, in Persian]. 1 May 1996. "Iran: New Appointments Announced." (FBIS-NES-96-110 1 May 1996/WNC)

Reuters. 21 February 1986. PM Cycle. "Tehran Radio Names 37 Killed in Downed Iranian Plane." (NEXIS)