Sanctioned Iranian Cargo Aircraft Makes Unusual Minsk Stopover
A sanctioned Iranian cargo aircraft linked by the United States to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps logistics activity made a series of flights involving Belarus and Russia this week, raising questions about the purpose of the trip and the nature of its cargo.
According to flight-tracking data reviewed by Militarnyi, a Boeing 747-281F operated by Fars Air Qeshm arrived in Minsk on August 26. The aircraft, registered as EP-FAB, then remained active in the region for the next two days before returning to Iran.
The aircraft reportedly flew under the flight number QFZ9962 during its initial movement. On August 27, it departed Minsk and spent almost five hours flying over Russian territory before returning to the Belarusian capital. A section of that route was marked only approximately by AirNav Radar, as the service did not have precise positional data for the aircraft during part of the flight.
On August 28, the Boeing 747 left Minsk again, this time heading back to Iran. It departed at 09:44 Kyiv time and landed in Tehran at 14:43.
The sequence of movements means the aircraft flew from Tehran to Minsk, conducted additional flights over Russian territory, and then returned to Iran within a three-day period.
A plane already under sanctions
EP-FAB is not an ordinary commercial cargo aircraft. The Boeing 747-281F, serial number 25171, is one of two Fars Air Qeshm aircraft placed under U.S. Treasury sanctions on January 24, 2019. Fars Air Qeshm itself was sanctioned at the same time.
Washington has accused the airline of transporting cargo on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including shipments to Syria. The aircraft has appeared in previous reports concerning flights between Iran and destinations in the Middle East, including Damascus and Beirut. Western and Israeli sources have associated some of those routes with the movement of military cargo and components to Iranian-backed groups.
The same aircraft type has also been linked to routes involving Sudan. In 2024, Reuters reported that Iranian cargo aircraft were used to deliver drones and other equipment to Sudan amid the country’s civil war.
Cargo remains unknown
Despite the aircraft’s history and unusual routing, publicly available flight-tracking data can confirm only where the aircraft flew — not what it carried. There has been no confirmed information about the cargo transported during the Minsk and Russia-related flights.
The stopover is notable because of the aircraft’s sanctioned status, its reported connection to IRGC logistics, and the broader military cooperation between Iran, Russia, and Belarus. Iran has supplied Russia with military technology during the war against Ukraine, most prominently attack drones, while Belarus continues to serve as a close Russian ally and logistical partner.
Ukraine designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization earlier this year, following a similar move by the European Union.
For now, the Minsk flights remain another unexplained movement by an aircraft with a long record of attention from sanctions authorities and security analysts. The available evidence shows the route, timing, and operator — but the cargo itself remains undisclosed.
