How Iran Smuggles 777 Airplanes

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Boeing 77, Iran, Mahan Air, United States Office of Foreign Assets Control
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Udon Aviation, Madagascar, sanctions, Iran
3. 6:00 – 6:29: Nebula, Lindsay Ellis

Notable quotes from "How Iran Smuggles 777 Airplanes"

• Iran's largest private airline, announced a slate of new routes that they would be flying with their brand new fleet of Boeing 77s. These planes represented a big leap forward…

  about Boeing 77 · at 0:02

• Went down. In the case of this most recent heist, the target was here, the Alice Springs aircraft boneyard in the middle of Australia's outback. Asian Airlines will often…

  about Alice Springs · at 2:00

• Where they sat for about a year before being sold to a second company, the Madagascar-based Udon Aviation. Unlike ION, this company didn't even seem to bother making a website or even a logo.

  about Udon Aviation · at 2:59

• Despite being registered in Madagascar, were still Americanmade. Selling them directly to Iran would bring down the US sanctions hammer. So, there's no way Madagascar could…

  about sanctions · at 4:04

• Transmitter turned off. The planes disappeared, and wouldn't you know it, they all landed in Iran. Two in Chabahar, two in Zahaden, and the last one landing in Mashad. From…

  about Chabahar · at 4:59

• Me. Other creators you might love like Real Engineering and Lindsay Ellis have used Nebula as a springboard for their most ambitious projects, too. So, if you want to check any…

  about Lindsay Ellis · at 6:07

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Lindsay Ellis — Person · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 6:09
  Mentioned as a creator on Nebula, contributing to its content.

Companies & orgs

• Mahan Air — Company · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at 0:00
  Mahan Air is the airline that acquired the Boeing 77s, highlighting the sanctions evasion.
  In December of last year, Mahan Air, Iran's largest private airline, announced a slate of new routes that they would be flying with their brand new fleet of Boeing 77s. These planes.
• United States Office of Foreign Assets Control — Company · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 0:17
  OFAC is responsible for enforcing sanctions, crucial to the episode's narrative.
  Everyone except the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control who were busy freaking out. You see, this was illegal.
• Udon Aviation — Company · Core topic · 4 mentions · first at 3:02
  Udon Aviation was involved in the transfer of planes, acting as a shell company.
• ION Aviation — Company · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 2:26
  ION Aviation initially purchased the planes, playing a key role in the smuggling operation.
  To Alice Springs after about two decades of service. In late 2023, these planes were purchased by a US-based company called ION Aviation. Now, we're going to go ahead and…
• Airbus — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 1:24
  Airbus is mentioned in the context of US sanctions affecting aircraft sales to Iran.
  From entering Iran. That includes Boeing planes, which are made in the US, and it also includes Airbus planes, which are mostly made in Europe, but generally contain at least…
• Nebula — Company · Referenced entity · 2 mentions · first at 5:39
  Nebula is mentioned as a platform for independent creators, including the episode's host.
  Mining to commercial fishing to operating a ski resort. If this is the kind of thing that you're into, I made a whole series called the logistics of X that you could watch…
• Singapore Airlines — Company · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 2:18
  Singapore Airlines originally owned the planes before they were retired.
  Their sight on a petite fleet of five Boeing 772 2000s originally flown by Singapore Airlines before being retired to Alice Springs after about two decades of service. In late…

Products & tech

• Boeing 77 — Product · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at 0:05
  The Boeing 77s are the aircraft at the center of the smuggling operation.

Concepts & topics

• sanctions — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 4:08
  Sanctions are central to the discussion as they restrict Iran's ability to purchase aircraft.
• aviation oversight — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 3:35
  Discussed in relation to the lax oversight in countries involved in the plane transfer.
  Were then moved to Camre, Cambodia, another country with a less than stellar reputation for aviation oversight and way bigger things to worry about. At this point, there's no…
• logistics of X — Concept · Referenced entity · 1 mention · first at 5:32
  A series mentioned that explores complex logistics, related to the episode's theme.
  Now, the logistics of the heist were pretty crazy, but crazy logistics are how the world goes round. From coal mining to commercial fishing to operating a ski resort. If this is the kind of thing that you're into, I made a.

Places & events

• Iran — Place · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at 0:29
  Iran is central to the discussion due to its involvement in acquiring Boeing 77s despite US sanctions.
  Or government on earth that is allowed to sell Boeing planes to Iran, but somehow Iran just got five of them.
• Madagascar — Place · Core topic · 3 mentions · first at 3:02
  Madagascar is where the planes were registered, facilitating their transfer.
  Planes under the watchful eyes of the FAA, these planes were now the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority of Madagascar. And look, we all love Madagascar, but they…
• Alice Springs — Place · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 2:04
  Alice Springs is where the planes were stored before being smuggled.
• Camre — Place · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 3:31
  Camre is a location involved in the plane's transfer, highlighting lax aviation oversight.
  That's kind of the point. So these planes now flying under Udon Aviation were then moved to Camre, Cambodia, another country with a less than stellar reputation for aviation…
• Chabahar — Place · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 5:02
  Chabahar is one of the locations where the planes landed in Iran.
• Mashad — Place · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 5:02
  Mashad is the final location where one of the planes landed in Iran.
  Transmitter turned off. The planes disappeared, and wouldn't you know it, they all landed in Iran. Two in Chabahar, two in Zahaden, and the last one landing in Mashad. From…
• Zahaden — Place · Core topic · 1 mention · first at 5:04
  Zahaden is another location where the planes landed in Iran.
  Disappeared, and wouldn't you know it, they all landed in Iran. Two in Chabahar, two in Zahaden, and the last one landing in Mashad. From there, Iran could sort of just take…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 In December of last year, Mahan Air, Iran's largest private airline, announced a slate of new routes that they would be flying with their brand new fleet of Boeing 77s. These planes represented a big leap forward, a muchneeded modernization of the country's lackluster aviation industry and an exciting day for everyone. Everyone except the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control who were busy freaking out. You see, this was illegal. Super legal. There's not a single person or government on earth that is allowed to sell Boeing planes to Iran, but somehow Iran just got five of them.

0:31 Doing so was not simple or easy. It took years to acquire and smuggle these planes across Iran's border and add them to Mahan's fleet. But how do you smuggle something as big as five wide-bodied, highly monitored aircraft? Well, it's complicated. First, I should explain why Iran needs to be smuggling airplanes at all. The short answer is that the United States said no more airplanes and they have nuclear weapons, so no more airplanes. The long answer has to do with these ears. No, not those kind of ears. These ears. If an object has been manufactured in the United States and could possibly endanger the United States if it fell into the wrong hands, the US will assert control over that object no matter where it is on Earth or who owns it. This applies to things like nuclear materials, computers, and yes, airplanes. For the last 46 years, minus a few years in the mid2010s, the US has prevented anything with these controls

1:20 from entering Iran. That includes Boeing planes, which are made in the US, and it also includes Airbus planes, which are mostly made in Europe, but generally contain at least 10% Americanmade parts, and that's enough to make them Americanmade in the eyes of the US government. As far as inproduction widebody passenger aircraft go, that's all the planes. So, for decades, airlines in Iran just haven't been able to buy new planes. They can't even buy replacement parts for the planes they do have. And as a result, their fleets are aging, unreliable, and increasingly dangerous. So, to keep their aviation industry afloat, smuggling airplanes is kind of their only option. So, the question is, how do you smuggle an airplane? Well, fortunately, we have a pretty good timeline of how this all went down. In the case of this most recent heist, the target was here, the Alice Springs aircraft boneyard in the

2:06 middle of Australia's outback. Asian Airlines will often retire their aging aircraft out here. It's dry. There's an airport and it's in the middle of nowhere and that's kind of all you need to get rid of an airplane. Iran had their sight on a petite fleet of five Boeing 772 2000s originally flown by Singapore Airlines before being retired to Alice Springs after about two decades of service. In late 2023, these planes were purchased by a US-based company called ION Aviation. Now, we're going to go ahead and tiptoe around this next point because if this is a real company, I'm going to get sued and if this is a fake shell company, I'm going to get a FAWA declared on me. But let's just go to their website and see if this seems like an actual American company that has the cash to purchase $50 million worth of commercial aircraft. I'll just scroll here and that's the whole website. I guess you can decide for yourself.

2:49 Anyway, this company bought the planes and registered them with the FAA as good old American planes under the ownership of a good old American company. The good old American company then, of course, moved all the planes to Langha, China, where they sat for about a year before being sold to a second company, the Madagascar-based Udon Aviation. Unlike ION, this company didn't even seem to bother making a website or even a logo. So, I went ahead and drew a logo for them out of the kindness of my own heart. Now, transferring the planes to Udon also meant changing their country of registration. No longer American planes under the watchful eyes of the FAA, these planes were now the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Authority of Madagascar. And look, we all love Madagascar, but they got bigger things to worry about right now than the whereabouts of five airplanes. And that's kind of the point. So these

3:29 planes now flying under Udon Aviation were then moved to Camre, Cambodia, another country with a less than stellar reputation for aviation oversight and way way bigger things to worry about. At this point, there's no one to look after these airplanes. This is the aviation equivalent of that kid at school whose parents didn't bother packing him lunch, so he'd show up with like a whole jar of Nutella to eat with a spoon. And at the time, you were really jealous because it seemed like he could do whatever he wanted. But now looking back, you realize it was actually kind of sad and the kid probably just wanted parents who paid attention to him. It's kind of like that but with airplanes. So, at this point, there was only one step left. Get the planes to Iran. This, unfortunately, is still the hardest part. These planes, despite being registered in Madagascar, were still Americanmade. Selling them

4:08 directly to Iran would bring down the US sanctions hammer. So, there's no way Madagascar could knowingly let that happen. Likewise, Udon Aviation couldn't file a one-way path from Cambodia to Iran to even get the planes over the border because the US only allows Boeing planes to sit in Iran for a maximum of 72 hours or, you know, sanctions. So to get these planes into Iran, they were going to have to get clever. And by get clever, I mean do crimes. Early in 2025, Udon Aviation filed a flight path to ferry the planes from CMRreap to Kenya for maintenance. This technically expired in April, but they couldn't get it done by April, so they seemingly just scribbled out April and wrote July instead. And apparently no one noticed.

4:44 On July 15th, the planes departed in a convoy on this obstensively legal flight heading northwest, sort of towards Kenya. But as soon as the planes entered Afghanistan's airspace, an infamously poorly monitored bit of sky with air traffic control entirely conducted by the Taliban, each plane's ADSB transmitter turned off. The planes disappeared, and wouldn't you know it, they all landed in Iran. Two in Chabahar, two in Zahaden, and the last one landing in Mashad. From there, Iran could sort of just take them. Udon Aviation wasn't going to make a fuss because it's not real. The US can't sanction Udon Aviation because it's not real, and every other company involved can just throw their hands up in the air and say they got tricked by the company.

5:20 think that's not real. In a matter of just a few months, the planes were absorbed into Mahan Air's fleet and began flying their new routes before the year was up and everyone lived happily ever after. Now, the logistics of the heist were pretty crazy, but crazy logistics are how the world goes round. From coal mining to commercial fishing to operating a ski resort. If this is the kind of thing that you're into, I made a whole series called the logistics of X that you could watch right now on Nebula. Longtime viewers of anything I've ever made already know I started Nebula with some other creators. And one of the amazing things about it is that it allows us to make bigger, more ambitious shows that the economics of YouTube just wouldn't pay for. Recently, we traveled to the University of Chicago to film a series on the world's largest annual scavenger hunt. But we've also done whole featurelength documentaries

6:02 on stuff like the world's most remote airport and a nation that's sinking into the sea. And that's just the stuff for me. Other creators you might love like Real Engineering and Lindsay Ellis have used Nebula as a springboard for their most ambitious projects, too. So, if you want to check any of that out and support independent creators while you're at it, head to the link in the description to get half off an annual Nebula subscription. That's just 250 a month to watch all these amazing creatorled projects you can't find anywhere else.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "How Iran Smuggles 777 Airplanes"?

In order: 0:00 Boeing 77, Iran, Mahan Air, United States Office of Foreign Assets Control; 3:00 Udon Aviation, Madagascar, sanctions, Iran; 6:00 Nebula, Lindsay Ellis.

What is mentioned in this Half as Interesting episode?

19 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including sanctions, Boeing 77, Iran, Mahan Air, United States Office of Foreign Assets Control, Udon Aviation. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "How Iran Smuggles 777 Airplanes"?

The episode runs 6 min; the transcript is about 1,432 words in 10 timestamped sections.

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