Treasury warns firms supporting Mahan Air face global financial cutoff
The U.S. Treasury on Sept. 9 sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines and nine people and companies outside Iran, expanding its campaign against Tehran’s aviation sector as part of an effort to pressure Iran to meet U.S. demands and end the war.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action delivers on promises made when the department announced Operation Economic Outcast on Aug. 24.
“Under Operation Economic Outcast, we promised severe consequences for those providing financial lifelines to the Iranian regime. Today, we followed through on that promise with sanctions on companies that continue to support Mahan Air,” Bessent said in a statement. Mahan Air is a major privately owned Iranian airline.
“Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned today: You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system.”
Along with the airlines, the Treasury targeted front companies and foreign intermediaries the Trump administration accuses of facilitating sanctions evasion in the aviation industry. Sanctions generally freeze any assets held by designated individuals and entities and block U.S. persons from doing business with them.
The Trump administration has been layering sanctions against Iran for months in an effort to draw Tehran back to the negotiating table for a new agreement. Conditions of the war, which began in late February, have shifted: President Donald Trump has pressed to secure freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran has worked to preserve its leverage over the vital maritime energy route.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi responded to the new measures online. “After 47 years of sanctions, the U.S. went to war with Iran on behalf of Israel. The fallout has been disastrous for America, including its standing worldwide. After failing to achieve its aims through sanctions or war, Washington’s ‘novel’ solution is … more sanctions. Seriously?” he said.
The National Iranian American Council, a U.S. nonprofit that advocates for the rights of Iranian Americans, said it found the new sanctions against the civilian aviation industry “deeply concerning,” arguing that they will harm ordinary Iranians — including Iranian Americans — more than Iran’s leadership.
“One can no longer speak of ‘smart sanctions,’” the group said in a statement. “These are openly ruthless and punitive sanctions that have no purpose other than to inflict harm and restrict travel for Iranians and anyone else coming and going in this country.”