Mahan Air Lands in Guangzhou Despite US Sanctions Threat — SkimNews
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- Mahan Air flight IRM093 from Tehran landed at Guangzhou Baiyun airport at 4:39pm local time on Sept 23, according to FlightRadar24
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned this week that any countries providing "landing services" to Iranian planes would be "knocked out of the dollar system," with prohibitions on fuel, landing, and ticket sales
- Bessent told CNBC on Sept 21 that "all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world" by Sept 23, as the US-Israel war nears the seven-month mark
- The Mahan Air flight was not listed on the official Guangzhou Baiyun airport website despite appearing on the tracking data
- Mahan Air staff in Shanghai told AFP on the morning of Sept 23 they had received no cancellation notices and were selling tickets for the upcoming week as normal
- Iranian airlines maintain regular direct routes into several Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou
- The US Treasury did not respond to AFP's request for clarification on how the sanctions threat would be enforced
Why it matters: A Mahan Air flight touched down in Guangzhou at 4:39pm on the precise day Bessent named as the shutdown deadline, and the Shanghai office was still selling tickets the same morning. With the US Treasury declining to clarify enforcement and China continuing to accept Iranian flights into three major cities, the threat's credibility is being tested in real time at the gate level.
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