In fact, at least half a dozen other companies at the air show were on the “suspect entities” list. The Aerospace Industries Organization of Iran had a large display of gyroscopes and missiles. “We are a military organization,” said the export manager. When I mentioned that his firm is listed as a suspect entity, he responded: “You know, I’m not really in charge to answer this question. I don’t know what part of the missiles we produce.” But he did confirm that his organization is headed by a general from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

Arms sales from EU countries to Iran are banned, but you wouldn’t know it from the displays. At one booth, a French firm’s brochure advertised tank helmets and an armoured vehicle intercom. The salesman, irritated by my questioning, snapped, “That is not for sale. It is just in the brochure.” A nearby stall was adorned with photographs of pilots standing jauntily next to fighter jets. François Leloup, representing a French company called Aerazur, said he had a $100,000-a-year contract with the Iranian air force. “I thought military equipment was not supposed to be sold,” I said. It’s military equipment, he confirmed, for fighter pilots, helicopter pilots, and aircrew. Because he was also selling life jackets and survival gear, it was allowed, he explained. Here in Kish, it seems even international embargos are pliable in the name of free trade.