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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appointed a new chief for the national carrier, Iran Air, the country's state media reported on Monday.
The state-owned IRAN daily said the decision to name Touraj Zanganeh the CEO of the airline was made during a Cabinet meeting on Sunday night.
Zanganeh succeeds Farzaneh Sharafbafi, who was the first female CEO of Iran Air and who was in the post since 2017. The report did not elaborate on the reason for the replacement.
Zanganeh is on a list of individuals under U.S. sanctions since last May. He was previously CEO of Meraj Air Meraj Air, an Iranian government airline that's been on the U.S. sanctions list over suspicions of ferrying weapons and other cargo to Syrian President Bashar Assad's government.
He was also an Iranian Air Force commander and was in charge of flights of high-ranking officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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This story has been corrected to show that the new CEO, Zanganeh, is on the U.S. sanctions' list, not his predecessor.
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