EU blacklisted carrier in 2024; Saudi Arabia banned it in 2016
The Aug. 30 Vietnam service began under an agreement between Iranian and Vietnamese authorities the previous month to expand travel and trade. Mahan Air now flies daily to Istanbul, Muscat and Guangzhou, five times a week to Moscow, and lists regular service to 20 destinations.
On July 30, the Treasury Department banned transactions with Mahan Air’s service providers and sales agents in multiple jurisdictions. Earlier in July, the carrier launched weekly Tehran-Phuket service.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s economic pressure campaign includes diplomatic warnings to half a dozen countries, including Oman, against allowing the airline to use their airports, people familiar with the matter said. The push is designed to complement U.S. Navy operations to shut down seaborne traffic through Iranian ports through a blockade, those people said.
The European Union blacklisted Mahan Air in 2024 for allegedly sending drones to Russia, effectively stopping all its flights to the 27-nation bloc. Saudi Arabia banned the airline in 2016 after cutting diplomatic ties with Iran and has not allowed its flights since, despite a recent rapprochement between the two countries.
The U.S. Treasury first sanctioned Mahan Air in 2011. Treasury alleged in 2011 that Mahan Air flew Quds Force personnel to Syria during the conflict in Syria and to Iraq by bypassing normal security procedures. Separately, Treasury said Mahan Air transported arms on behalf of Hezbollah, and last year alleged it had expanded its weapon deliveries to Venezuela.
“Due to Mahan’s continued use to transfer weapons, the regime is going to look to find ways to keep the airline operating,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation of Defense of Democracies. “Sanctioning doesn’t mean that Mahan has been grounded but raises the cost to Tehran for continuing operating this airline.”
In a 2022 interview with The Wall Street Journal after he had stepped down from the company, Mahan Air founder Hossein Marashi said the carrier had little choice but to transport weapons and Revolutionary Guard officers if asked. “If the army or Sepah ask Iranian companies, they should help them,” Marashi said, using the Iranian shorthand for the Revolutionary Guard. “We will transport it if they pay money. We have to obey. It’s a patriotic obligation.”
This summer, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government struck the runway at Sana’a International Airport to prevent a Mahan Air flight carrying Houthi officials who had attended the funeral for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei from landing. The attack sparked a new conflict between Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia after a long truce.
Last year, Lebanese authorities searched passengers on a Mahan Air flight that touched down in Beirut after a Saudi news station reported the plane was being used to bring funds to Hezbollah. Iran denied the flight was used to fund the group.