The Route & Plane Iran’s President Used To Reach The UN In New York

Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian is currently at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, making him the first leader to attend the event while being at war with the United States. Anyway, let’s move on to the interesting aviation angle here, regarding how he traveled to New York.

Iranian president flew from Tehran to New York via Algiers

On Tuesday, September 22, 2026, the Iranian president made his way from Iran to the United States on a government Airbus A340. Specifically, the plane operated with the callsign “Iran 02,” with the following routing:

• The plane took off from Tehran Mehrabad International Airport (THR) at 8:18AM local time, and then landed at Algiers Houari Boumediene Airport (ALG) at 11:49AM local time, after a flight time of 6hr1min
• Then the plane spent a little over two hours on the ground refueling, before it took off again from Algiers at 2:10PM local time, and landed at New York Kennedy International Airport (JFK) at 6:13PM local time, after a flight time of 9hr3min
• Then at 9:22PM the plane was flown from New York to Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI), where it landed at 10:02PM, after a flight time of 40min; presumably it’s just parking there until the delegation is ready to return to Iran

I think the refueling stop in Algeria is no surprise, as it’s on the way, and is more of a “friendly” country toward Iran than many of the other countries in the region.

Some people might be surprised to see that the plane took a really direct routing, and didn’t at all avoid European Union airspace.

Note that while commercial Iranian planes are banned from European Union airspace, those same restrictions don’t typically apply when an aircraft is operating a state flight. However, diplomatic clearance is required from each country that is potentially being overflown.

Legality aside, it’s interesting that the Iranian government chose to fly over European Union airspace, since that could’ve also pretty easily been detoured around. Then again, the decision might’ve been made that it’s safer to fly over the European Union than some other countries.

The fascinating Airbus A340-300 the Iranian government uses

So, on which aircraft did the Iranian president fly to New York, exactly? Iran’s aviation system is unusual, since the country has been facing sanctions for a very long time, so hasn’t had access to new Airbus and Boeing aircraft. That’s why so many planes operating for Iranian airlines have essentially been smuggled in, using some very shady arrangements.

Anyway, this journey to New York took place on an Airbus A340-300 with the registration code EP-IGI. The backstory on this plane is interesting:

• The plane is 34 years old, as it was initially delivered in 1992; as a matter of fact, it has the Manufacturer Serial Number (MSN) 002, so it was the second one ever produced (by Delta standards, it’s a premium spring chicken!)
• The plane flew for Virgin Atlantic from 1997 until 2011, then it was purchased by some shady company (presumably with the intent of smuggling the plane to Iran), and then in 2012 it started flying for Iran Aseman Airlines
• Interestingly, just two weeks ago, the plane was formally handed over from Iran Aseman Airlines to the Islamic Republic of Iran Government, so it entered service on September 11, 2026 (which… that’s quite the day for that to happen!)
• The reason the Iranian government just recently took over this plane is because the previous A340-300 was destroyed in an airstrike earlier this year

Up until recently, the plane was configured with the original Virgin Atlantic configuration, including 240 seats, consisting of 34 business class seats, 35 premium economy seats, and 171 economy seats. My assumption is that the plane wasn’t really retrofitted much in recent times, so the government officials were probably flying in Virgin Atlantic’s herringbone seats.

Bottom line

Iran’s president arrived in New York yesterday for the United Nations General Assembly. He flew on a government Airbus A340-400 from Tehran, with a refueling stop in Algiers. After landing, the plane was positioned to Baltimore, where it’s parking until the return flight.

The 34-year-old ex-Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-300 only joined the government fleet within the past couple of weeks, as it was inherited from Iran Aseman Airlines. That was only necessary because the previous A340 was destroyed in an airstrike earlier this year.

So if you’re flying through Baltimore today and think you’re hallucinating when you see an Iranian government plane on the ground, now you know why.

What do you make of the Iranian president’s journey to New York?