'Eyeing Syria, Qatar Conquers Iran's Airspace'

"... sanctions preventing the country from purchasing parts to maintain aircraft or new Western planes to update aging fleets, and denying some European refueling points on international flights, may have caused the country to swallow that pride and look abroad for help.
Relief, it appears, will come from Qatar Airways, which has been tapped to take over an unspecified number of domestic flights within Iran. The unprecedented announcement was promptly followed by news that the Doha-based airline plans to greatly expand its flight offerings to Iranian cities.
Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban and Development Shahriar Afandizadeh announced on October 30 that a deal on domestic flights had been finalized, and said the date of implementation would be announced by his ministry. 
Few details were provided, but based on the agreement Qatar Airways will have to cooperate with Iranian airlines as required by Iranian regulations banning foreign companies from operating domestic routes.
 "The reason for the move is to increase the capabilities of our airlines," Afandizadeh was quoted as saying by Iran's news agencies.
 The measure is also seen by some as a means of countering sanctions.
 "Allowing Qatar or any other foreign country to operate some of our domestic flight is aimed at diminishing the pressure of the sanctions, and it is a suitable policy under the current conditions," Iranian lawmaker Ali Akbar Moghanjoughi was quoted as saying about the agreement.
 Kamran Dadkhah, a U.S.-based professor of Middle Eastern economies, says the deal could be seen as a way of allowing Iran to bypass sanctions but that it would come at a heavy price."A very small country will be in charge of Iran's domestic flights. As the result of the deal the services provided by Iranians and their jobs will practically be under the control of another country," Dadkhah said.

Blake Hounshell, the Doha-based managing editor of "Foreign Policy," tells RFE/RL the deal between Iran and Qatar could be viewed as a setback in U.S. efforts to isolate the Islamic republic over its sensitive nuclear work. 
"It's going to be seen -- in Washington certainly -- as one more example of Qatar not being as cooperative as United States would like about sanctions. I don't think Qatar is violating any laws here but they're certainly violating the spirit of isolating Iran," Hounshell said. 
 He believes the deal is part of a pattern in Qatari foreign policy of playing Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States against one another.
 "A lot of that has to do with Syria, and the Qataris believing that they can persuade Iran to put pressure on Syria to reform or get rid of Assad. So I think the Qataris are using the open door, and the relatively good relations they have with Iranians to try to be useful," Hounshell said..."