US Sanctions All Iranian Airlines, Mahan Air Partners — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is sanctioning all of Iran's airlines and nearly a dozen foreign companies doing business with Mahan Air, part of 'Operation Economic Outcast' — a financial pressure campaign launched last month as the war's military front stalled.
- The new measures target 27 Iranian airlines and 9 cargo service providers and general sales agents that Treasury said Iran's IRGC has used to obtain American aircraft or other U.S.-origin aviation materials.
- Treasury sanctioned several Turkey- and UAE-based firms for helping Mahan Air secure at least three Boeing B-777 aircraft this summer; the planes originated from a retired fleet and passed through ECT Aviation Support UAE, where they received temporary registrations.
- The action also named Ibrahim Ali Mohamed Mohamed Mahran, the UAE-based Egyptian CEO of ECT Aviation Support, along with the firm's British unit.
- Mahan Air was first sanctioned in 2011 as a 'critical asset' for the IRGC, which Treasury described as responsible for global terrorist attacks and proxy groups across the Middle East.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that anyone doing business with Iran's remaining airlines 'is at risk of being cut off from the global financial system.'
Why it matters: Treasury is targeting the aviation supply chain the IRGC uses to keep Iran's fleet flying, with Bessent explicitly warning any firm still transacting with Iran's airlines risks being 'cut off from the global financial system.' Companies in Turkey and the UAE who helped route three Boeing B-777s to Mahan Air this summer — through a UAE shell company that gave the planes temporary registrations — now face direct designation and loss of dollar-based access.
Ask SkimNews
