Overview
- The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added 36 entities to its sanctions list, including 27 Iranian airlines, in an action announced Tuesday that aims to remove Iran’s commercial carriers from normal international markets.
- Officials used expanded sectoral authority under Executive Order 13902 and counterterrorism powers to bar U.S. persons from transactions with the listed airlines and to expose foreign firms that materially assist them to secondary sanctions.
- The department suspended key aviation general licenses that had authorized overflight payments, emergency safety support, and the re-export of U.S.-origin aircraft, a move that tightens restrictions on spare parts, maintenance, and aircraft transfers.
- The designations also target third‑country intermediaries and front companies in Turkey, the UAE, Malaysia and Kazakhstan that the U.S. says helped procure U.S.-origin planes and parts for carriers such as Mahan Air, which the U.S. has accused of supporting the IRGC.
- The campaign builds on Operation Economic Outcast, launched Aug. 24, and its effectiveness will depend on whether major buyers and banks—notably in China and regional financial centers—comply, with likely effects on commercial flights, cargo services, and Iran’s ability to source aviation parts.