US Sanctions All Iranian Airlines, Foreign Mahan Air Firms — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Treasury Department sanctioned all 27 Iranian airlines and nine cargo providers, sales agents, and other entities under Operation Economic Outcast, a financial pressure campaign launched last month after the military front of the more than six-month war stalled out.
- Mahan Air, originally sanctioned in 2011 as a critical IRGC asset, was the focal target: three Turkey- and UAE-based firms helped it acquire at least three Boeing B-777 aircraft this summer from a retired fleet.
- ECT Aviation Support UAE provided temporary registrations for the Boeing aircraft, and its UAE-based Egyptian CEO Ali Mohamed Mohamed Mahran was personally sanctioned along with the firm's British unit.
- Turkey-based firms were sanctioned for coordinating shipments of drone components and industrial equipment destined for Iran on behalf of Mahan Air, and one Turkey-based entity served as a general sales agent for the airline.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that any company doing business with Iran's remaining airlines is "at risk of being cut off from the global financial system," framing the move as a warning to foreign intermediaries.
Why it matters: With the military front of the Iran war stalled, Treasury is escalating economic warfare by targeting the foreign intermediaries — nine firms in Turkey and the UAE — that help Mahan Air acquire US-origin Boeing aircraft and aviation materials. Foreign companies now face potential cutoff from the US financial system for facilitating Iran's IRGC-linked airline operations.
Ask SkimNews
