Ahmadinejad’s Plane Made in America and Parked at Andrews AFB

Image Credit: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

Here’s something you don’t see every day.

At Joint Base Andrews this morning, reporters traveling to Ohio with President Obama spotted what is in all likelihood Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad’s airplane sitting on the tarmac: an American-made Boeing 747.

The Iran Air jet was parked next to the Russian government airplane and several others that appeared to be from foreign governments. Andrews becomes a parking lot for the planes during the annual UN General Assembly since there is not enough space at JFK and other NYC area airports.

It’s not the first time Ahmadinejad’s plane has been parked at Andrews during UNGA… in 2006 we reported it was there because it was considered a “high-value target.”

Read that report from 2006.

Iran has an entire fleet of aging Boeing passenger planes, which they purchased when the Shah was still in power. Current US sanctions do not allow the Iranians to buy spare parts for the aircraft, meaning a lot of these passenger planes are dropping out of the sky. That has lead to some criticism of the sanctions because they put innocent lives at risk. The Obama admin has dangled spare parts for the Boeings in front of Iran during negotiations over its nuclear program.

Read more about Ahmadinejad’s speech at the United Nations Wednesday.