Ghanaian firm denies any wrongdoing in flying plane to Iran

Ghanaian firm Engineers and Planners (E&P) has denied any wrongdoing in flying its aircraft to Iran. The mining firm, which operates a Bombardier jet aircraft, said it breached no international aviation regulations by landing the plane in Tehran. This was in response to publications in the New York Times and reproduced by several local media houses about the trip made by the United States flagged aircraft to Tehran in spite of U.S. ostracizing the oil-rich Persian Gulf country. The New York Times, which broke the story about the sighting of the aircraft in Iran, stated on Saturday among other things that the plane had ties with Ghana. "New details emerged on Friday about an American plane, owned by a small community bank in Utah and mysteriously parked this week at Tehran's airport, showing that it had been leased by a Ghanaian mining company owned by a brother of Ghana's president," the story said. The newspaper revealed that the Bombardier Jet was just in the trusteeship of a small community bank in the U.S. state of Utah. It said that "confidential document reviewed by The New York Times showed that the plane is held in a trust by the Bank of Utah on behalf of the mining company, Engineers and Planners, which is based in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. As the beneficiary of the trust, the company operates the plane." It added that the company's chief executive Ibrahim Mahama, a brother of Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama, alleged that the aircraft was used to transport "top Ghanaian officials" to Tehran. But E&P Executive Director Adi Ayitevie explained in a statement late Saturday that the aircraft was only used to transport a group of Ghanaian businessmen to Iran. "The said trip was made in conformity with all international aviation laws," the statement stressed, countering the New York Times story that Ghana's president Mahama ever travelled on the aircraft. "We wish to state that the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, has never been transported by the said aircraft," said the E&P statement, describing the New York Times story as speculative.