The United States Government included on Tuesday, September 8, the entire Iranian commercial aviation sector on its blacklist, threatening to sanction any organization that works with Iranian airlines. The US Department of the Treasury announced that all Iranian airlines are now under economic sanctions. The major carriers, Mahan Air and Iran Air, were already targeted by sanctions, but now 27 more companies operating on a local or regional scale are joining them.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused the Iranian authorities of using the aviation sector to transport weapons, personnel and illegal goods. The US administration also decided to suspend aviation-related exemptions, including one that allowed non-US companies to operate US-made aircraft in Iran.
Among the sanctions package adopted are two companies, one from the United Arab Emirates and another Turkish, accused of acting as intermediaries to allow Mahan Air to receive three Boeing 777s in the summer of 2026. Bessent declared that the government fulfilled the promise of severe retaliation against those who provide financial support to the Iranian regime, warning that companies doing business with Iranian airlines risk being excluded from the global financial system.
