On September 8, the U.S. Treasury Department announced new sanctions aimed at grounding Iranian airlines, as part of the Trump administration’s “Operation Economic Outcast.” The sanctions hit 36 entities, including cargo service providers and general sales agents based in Turkiye, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia.
The Trump administration’s war against Iran has stretched into its seventh month. Although the U.S. government claims to be in control of the vital Strait of Hormuz, traffic remains low. Reuters reported that six commodity vessels passed through the strait on September 8, “down from nine a day earlier and below the 10-day average of about 12.” In 2025, before the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, more than 100 commodity vessels passed through the strait each day on average.
In late August the Treasury Department announced an “economic D-Day.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent explained: “In the Second World War, D-Day marked the historic beginning of a campaign with our allies to target and drive the enemy from its positions, including those in third countries. Today, in that same spirit, we are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around the globe. Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone.”
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on September 8 designated 27 Iranian commercial airlines “for operating in the aviation sector of the Iranian economy.”
In addition, OFAC took aim at a number of companies tied to Mahan Air, a privately owned Iranian airline. It was first sanctioned back in 2011 for providing “financial, material, and technological support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).” The Treasury Department at the time alleged that Mahan Air secretly ferried IRGC operatives, weapons, and funds.
In 2020, OFAC designated two UAE-based companies, Parthia Cargo and Delta Parts Supply FZC, “for their material support of Iranian airline Mahan Air.” At the time, the Treasury Department outlined how the sanctioned companies helped Mahan Air “sustain its fleet of Western-manufactured aircraft.” The Treasury Department alleged that Mahan Air transported “terrorists and lethal cargo to Syria” and also “ Iranian technicians and technical equipment to Venezuela…”
In its latest round of sanctions, the Treasury Department designated several UAE-based companies it claims were involved in the transfer of three B-777 aircraft to Mahan Air.
The sanctions also designated a pair of Turkiye-based companies – S Sistem Lojistik Hizmetler Anonim Sirketi and Mes Cargo Transportation Tourism and Foreign Trade Limited Company – for coordinating shipments and serving as a general sales agent for Mahan Air. Similarly, Malaysia-based Icargo SDN BHD and Kazakhstan-based Tour Invest LLC were designated for acting as general sales agents for Mahan Air.