The United States Treasury has warned global commercial entities against providing services to Iranian air carriers, threatening to exclude non-compliant foreign firms from the US dollar financial system starting Wednesday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that all Iranian airlines face an effective global shutdown from 23 September under President Donald Trump’s “Operation Economic Outcast” initiative, reports Al Jazeera.
Bessent cautioned that any foreign enterprise offering fuel supply, landing facilities, or ticket distribution to Iranian air operators will risk losing access to dollar-denominated transactions.
The enforcement follows Washington’s 8 September decision to place all 27 of Iran’s commercial airlines on its sanctions list, alleging that Tehran utilizes civilian aircraft to transport military equipment, personnel, and illegal cargo.
Earlier, the US Treasury designated 36 foreign firms for aiding the Iranian aviation sector as a preliminary warning to international service providers.
Operating under constrained conditions
Iran’s commercial aviation sector has suffered from decades of American trade restrictions, leading to an ageing fleet and compromised operational efficiency.
State-controlled flag carrier Iran Air has seen its former European flight network virtually disappear due to fleet limitations, economic curbs, and disruptions linked to the conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran.
Taher Abdolhai, chief executive of Iran Air, told the Iranian news outlet SehatKhabar that economic strain on the aviation industry is spreading “like metastasising cancer”.
Abdolhai added that at least 30 aircraft belonging to various domestic operators have been damaged during American military strikes, leaving Iran Air with international flights restricted to Najaf, Baghdad, and Istanbul.
Meanwhile, Mahan Air, the nation’s largest international carrier, recently suspended services connecting Tehran with Istanbul, Ankara, and Muscat after Washington penalised foreign supporting companies.
The airline continues flights to limited destinations across China, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.
Qeshm Air also maintains limited international operations within the region, connecting Iran with Turkiye, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany.
Plummeting capacity and impacted international hubs
Official statistics from Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization show that 46.2 million air passengers were recorded in 2025, including 11.2 million international travellers, nearly 7.2 million of whom travelled on domestic airlines.
However, intelligence from flight tracking firm Cirium indicates that scheduled international departing capacity for September fell below 70,000 weekly seats.
This represents a 49 per cent drop in international flight capacity compared to 2025 levels, driven primarily by the complete withdrawal of foreign carriers such as Flydubai and Turkish Airlines, which previously supplied a combined 20,000 weekly departing seats.
Foreign airports receiving Iranian flights face direct operational impact, particularly facilities in Istanbul, Najaf, Baghdad, Dubai, New Delhi, Lahore, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Phuket.
In addition to flight cancellations, local enterprises providing ground handling, re-fuelling, overlay management, and ticket administration will suffer financial fallout.
Geopolitical stances and regional countermeasures
International response to the American mandate reflects deep geopolitical divisions.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun firmly rejected the measures, stating, “China consistently opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law or authorisation from the UN Security Council.”
Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, observed that major global powers such as China and Russia are expected to ignore American demands.
Ahmad noted that Iraq is likely to petition Washington for a sanctions waiver to protect lucrative religious tourism revenues, while Pakistan will probably refuse compliance due to extensive cross-border trade and cultural connections. Turkiye is also anticipated to resist the restrictions diplomatically behind closed doors to protect bilateral commerce.
Conversely, the United Arab Emirates may enforce the US regulations following its recent suspension of trade relations with Iran.
Analysts warn that Tehran could retaliate by closing its airspace to international carriers, although most foreign operators have already rerouted flights away from Iran since hostilities commenced.
Soaring fares and fleet maintenance crisis
The implementation of secondary sanctions threatens to exacerbate financial hardship for ordinary Iranian citizens.
Iranian American economist Nader Habibi noted that broad sanctions targeting support operations have driven airline ticket prices up by up to 100 per cent in recent weeks.
This rapid price increase places a heavy burden on households already contending with economic contraction, currency devaluation, and a drop in household income of up to 30 per cent in recent months.
Mazen Sammak, a Lebanon-based aviation consultant, highlighted that demand and ticket prices on remaining foreign carriers will surge, prompting travellers to seek land or sea passage through neighbouring states such as Turkiye, Iraq, Armenia, or Pakistan.
This shift is expected to benefit regional transit hubs including Istanbul, Doha, Muscat, and Dubai, albeit at significantly higher financial expense for passengers.
The maintenance bottlenecks are projected to worsen rapidly, with StrategicAero Research estimating that spare parts shortages could immediately ground one-third of Iran’s remaining operational aircraft fleet.
The aviation measures form part of a broader expansion of US secondary sanctions into five civilian economic sectors, aviation, digital assets, gold, shipping, and technology, further isolating Iran from global commerce.
