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Trump administration on Tuesday sanctioned all of Iran's remaining airlines along with foreign companies tied to Mahan Air, the latest step in its Operation Economic Outcast pressure campaign against Tehran. Nearly a dozen foreign companies doing business with Mahan Air, which was already under sanctions for its ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, are among those hit, The Hill reported.
Who is being targeted? The measures, which PBS NewsHour reported cover more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers, are part of a push to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners. Private entities based in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Malaysia provided parts and logistics services to Mahan Air, the administration said. The airline has been under US counterterrorism sanctions since 2019.
What does Washington allege? The administration accused the 36 entities targeted this week of supporting Iran's efforts to use its aviation sector to move weapons, personnel and illicit cargo, PBS NewsHour reported. The moves expose foreign firms and governments that deal with those entities to sanctions of their own, including a freeze on any assets they may have in US jurisdictions. "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," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release.
How did Iran respond? Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a post on X that the fallout of the longstanding US sanctions campaign "has been disastrous for America, including its standing worldwide." "After failing to achieve its aims through sanctions or war, Washington's 'novel' solution is…more sanctions. Seriously?" he said on Tuesday afternoon.
How does this fit the wider campaign? The sanctions belong to a two-pronged economic and military approach by Trump as he struggles to end a war with Tehran now more than six months old, PBS NewsHour reported. Last week the US penalised Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi, a Turkish bank it accused of being set up to help Iran move oil revenues from China to Turkey for conversion into cash and gold. An Egyptian bank's operations in the United Arab Emirates were limited last month, though the administration stopped short of sanctions as it grapples with how to sever Iran's economic footprint without upending the global financial system.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
