The Trump administration on Tuesday expanded U.S. sanctions on Iran’s aviation industry, blacklisting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines along with foreign cargo service providers in a renewed effort to further isolate Tehran from the trading partners it still has.
The measures fall under the administration’s Operation Economic Outcast campaign, a pressure drive designed to cut off what officials describe as “critical financial lifelines” to Iran’s already heavily sanctioned government. This latest round focuses on what remains of Tehran’s battered aviation network, a sector Washington has targeted repeatedly over the years.
“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,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release.
U.S. officials said the 36 entities sanctioned this week helped the Islamic Republic use its aviation sector to transport weapons, personnel and illicit cargo. The designations expose foreign companies and governments that continue to work with the listed entities to potential sanctions, including the freezing of any assets they hold under U.S. jurisdiction.
The administration also alleged that private firms based in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Malaysia supplied parts and logistics support to Iran’s Mahan Air. The major carrier, which operates flights from Tehran to dozens of destinations across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, has been under U.S. counterterrorism sanctions since 2019 over its support for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which the State Department has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
The airline was first targeted by the U.S. under the Obama administration in 2011, when it accused Mahan Air of being used to send weapons to Iranian proxies in Lebanon and Yemen.
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The latest sanctions campaign is part of a two-pronged economic and military approach by President Donald Trump as he struggles to bring an end to a more than six-month-old war with Tehran.
Last week, the U.S. announced penalties against Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi, a Turkish bank, which it accused of being established to enable Iran’s efforts to transfer oil revenues from China to Turkey, where they could then be converted to cash and gold.
The U.S. also said the institution “knowingly offered” banking services to Iranian financial entities, including those already sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2022 for funneling Tehran’s oil sales.
An Egyptian bank’s operations in the United Arab Emirates were also limited last month as part of the campaign, but the administration stopped short of imposing sanctions as it grapples with how to sever Iran’s economic footprint without upending the global financial system.
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