🕳️ Released Phantom Node 84: Air Bridge. Private Carriers (Mahan Air & Others). QF/IRGC Air Shield
- Foundation date
27 October 2025
This project is a philosophical and artistic study of the phenomenon of "phantom nodes" — invisible yet influential objects and subjects in the contemporary global system. The descriptions contained within this study are metaphorical and allegorical, aimed at uncovering systemic problems, regimes, and civilisational influences. They are not a journalistic investigation or legal accusations, but serve as an artistic interpretation of reality.
Names are included because they appear in open international sources.
This creation is protected and cannot be used by third parties for the purpose of supporting, propagating, or legitimizing criminal regimes, terrorist states, and organizations operating in the shadows. The use of data or analysis results from this project, whether in part or in full, is expressly prohibited if the objective is to support or conceal their criminal activity.
The project may be freely used by individuals and organizations that combat evil, corruption, and aggression.
Mode: Civil–Military Air Transport
🕳️ Released Phantom Node 84: Air Bridge. Private Carriers (Mahan Air & Others). QF/IRGC Air Shield.
Civil aviation converted into covert corridors for military logistics.
Who is this?
The Air Bridge — a system of ostensibly civilian carriers (notably Mahan Air) and associated entities — used to covertly and rapidly move personnel, cash, sensitive weapon components and materiel. Under the cover of scheduled flights this network sustains proxies and imports dual-use items from transit hubs.
Type of node:
Aviation-logistics / civil-military channel.
Status:
Formally civilian; operationally integrated with IRGC/Quds Force.
Form of control:
Front carriers, dedicated hidden cargo bays, falsified manifests, diplomatic couriers, bulk cash transfers.
Phantom image:
A large passenger aircraft on a dark runway; under its wing, uniformed personnel hurriedly load unmarked crates into the hold; the airline logo is visible on the fuselage; passengers board oblivious.
What remains after the phantom:
A network of clandestine corridors, doctored documents, couriers and flight routings that normalize illicit transport.
Core of the node:
What sustained it?
Close operational ties between carriers and IRGC/QF, access to routes and maintenance, use of civilian infrastructure as cover, commercial incentives and gaps in international oversight.
How did it become a phantom?
From sporadic covert flights to institutionalized air corridors blending civilian schedules with secret cargo and personnel movement.
Why does the phantom still exist?
Operational speed, political cover, economic utility, and detection challenges make the Air Bridge persist.
Phantom’s condition:
Active, mobile, embedded in commercial air routes.
After the regime:
Closure of key air routes and slots.
Targeted sanctions and criminal inquiries into carriers and ground handlers.
Inspections of cargo holds and tightened scrutiny of diplomatic baggage.
Stricter oversight of civil aviation maintenance and supply chains.
Collective reaction:
Civil airspace must not be repurposed for violence. Demand verifiable inspections and accountability.
Core principle:
When civilian wings carry military cargo, plausible deniability becomes deadly. Transparency saves lives.
Alt-text:
Graphite drawing: uniformed personnel hurriedly load unmarked crates of weapons into a passenger plane’s hold on a dark runway; an airline logo is visible on the fuselage; passengers board in the background.
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Unmasking the Phantom. Pivtorak.Studio. 27.10.2025
🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical exploration. All depictions are allegorical; the piece does not allege facts about specific private individuals without corroborated evidence.
Names are included because they appear in open international sources.
🫧 Phantom Node Dossier 84: The Air Bridge: Private Carriers (Transport Shield). The "Civilian Military Transport" Regime.
Key Aspects of the Phantom:
"The Civilian Military Transport Regime" (or "QF/IRGC Air Shield"). The essence of this node is the systematic utilization of civil air carriers, primarily Mahan Air (which has close ties to the IRGC-QF), for the covert transportation of weapons, dual-use components (COTS), high-ranking military officials, and finance. These operations enable the rapid and discrete support of proxy forces (Node 82) and the import of Western components (Node 79) from transit hubs (Node 81).
Regimes (which it directly shapes/supports):
✈️ Regime of "Passenger Camouflage": Using regular passenger routes (e.g., to Istanbul, Beijing, Dubai, Beirut) as cover to move military personnel, bulk cash finance, and highly sensitive cargo.
📦 Regime of "QF Priority Cargo": Allocating special cargo compartments on civil aircraft that are immune to standard checks and are used exclusively for transporting weapon components (electronics, missile parts).
🌐 Regime of "Transit Corridors": Establishing and maintaining permanent air routes (often using refueling stops in third countries) to ensure the uninterrupted supply of proxy forces (e.g., to Syria and Lebanon).
🛠️ Regime of "Sanctions Servicing": Utilizing international routes to procure and transport spare parts for the aging aircraft fleet (which is itself sanctioned), often using the same obfuscation schemes as for weapons.
Tools (which it actively uses/oversees):
🛩️ Private Airline Fronts: Legal entities like Mahan Air that are operationally independent but controlled or financed by the IRGC, making them QF personnel on the ground and in the air.
🧳 Diplomatic Baggage/Couriers: Using specially trained couriers and mechanisms that simulate or exploit "diplomatic immunity" to carry bulk cash and small, but critical components.
🧾 False Cargo Manifests: Creation of forged or heavily altered documents declaring military cargo as "medical supplies," "foodstuffs," or "agricultural equipment."
💰 Bulk Cash Transfers: The routine movement of millions of dollars in cash on civil flights to fund proxy forces and arms procurement operations (Node 77).
Civilizational Influences (which it embodies/explores):
💀 Direct Enabling of Killing: The air bridge is the direct conduit for transporting Shahed UAVs to Russia and weapons to conflict zones, leading to civilian casualties.
⚠️ Compromise of Civil Aviation: Turning international passenger and cargo air travel into a channel for military proliferation and terrorism, jeopardizing the safety of civilian flights.
📉 Undermining Global Aviation Safety: Mahan Air and similar carriers often disregard international safety standards (due to lack of legitimate servicing), posing risks to the airspace of all nations.
📈 Legalization of Terror Logistics: Establishing a dangerous precedent where state-sponsored terrorist entities can use their national airlines as a means of waging war.
Dissection of a Phantom Node. Pivtorak.Studio. 27.10.2025
🛡️ This project is an artistic and philosophical exploration. Depictions are allegorical and do not allege facts about private individuals without corroborated evidence.
Names are included because they appear in open international sources.
