The Trump administration announced sweeping new sanctions Tuesday targeting every Iranian airline and nearly a dozen foreign companies conducting business with Iran’s Mahan Air.
The measures fall under Operation Economic Outcast, a financial pressure campaign the administration launched last month as its military effort against Iran stalled after more than six months.
The sanctions cover 27 Iranian airlines and nine entities, including cargo service providers and general sales agents linked to American aircraft procurement on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Treasury Department said several firms based in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates helped Mahan Air secure at least three Boeing B-777 aircraft this summer from a retired fleet.
Those aircraft passed through ECT Aviation Support, where they received temporary registrations before being delivered, according to the Treasury Department.
Turkey-based firms were also sanctioned for coordinating shipments of drone components and industrial equipment destined for Iran on behalf of the blacklisted airline.
Additional sanctioned entities with ties to Mahan Air are based in Malaysia and Kazakhstan, broadening the geographic reach of the financial crackdown.
Mahan Air was originally sanctioned in 2011 for serving as a critical asset for the IRGC, which is responsible for global terrorist attacks and sponsors proxy military groups across the region.
“Under Operation Economic Outcast, we promised severe consequences for those providing financial lifelines to the Iranian regime,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“Today, we followed through on that promise with sanctions on companies that continue to support Mahan Air,” Bessent added, signaling the administration’s intent to pursue further enforcement.
All property and interests in the United States belonging to sanctioned entities are now blocked, and Americans are generally prohibited from conducting any business with the listed parties.
Bessent has consistently promoted the economic pressure campaign as the U.S. military operation against Tehran has dragged on, with administration officials raising the prospect of regime change.
Treasury warned that any entity facilitating money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran risks being cut off entirely from the U.S. financial system.
The department also expanded secondary sanctions exposure for any foreign party that continues doing business with the Iranian regime, regardless of direct U.S. connections.
“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,” Bessent said.
