The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines and 9 service providers and sales agents, including those in Turkey, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and the UAE, in a move to further isolate Iran's airline industry. These actions are part of the Trump administration's ongoing pressure campaign against Tehran, with Mahan Air, which has been sanctioned since 2011 for allegedly supporting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, being a primary target.
Following these sanctions, Mahan Air announced the cancellation of all flights to Turkey starting September 21, 2026, until further notice. This development highlights the immediate impact of the US Treasury's actions, which also involve the termination of licenses that previously allowed for overflights and non-US airlines to operate US-origin aircraft into Iran. The US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, warned that any entities doing business with Iran's remaining airlines are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system.
The sanctions have severely curtailed Iran's international air connectivity. Data from OAG Schedules Analyser shows a 25% drop in scheduled departure seats from Iranian airports over the past year, from 1.2 million in September 2025 to just over 900,000 in September 2026. International capacity has plummeted by 69.1%, from 417,815 to 129,008 seats, now accounting for only 14.3% of the market. The number of international routes has fallen from 88 to 27, serving 11 countries compared to 17 last year. China, Turkey, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates now comprise 92.2% of Iran's international capacity.
Foreign airline capacity into Iran has almost disappeared, with a 99.2% reduction from 238,799 departure seats to a mere 1,924. Armenia Airways is currently the only foreign carrier with scheduled capacity into Iran in September 2026. The Iranian civil fleet has also suffered significant damage, with Tehran reporting approximately 100 airliners destroyed or damaged, further exacerbating the industry's challenges in sourcing second-hand aircraft and spares through complex global networks of shell companies and intermediaries.
