How the U.S. Treasury's New Aviation Sanctions on Iran Extend Beyond Tehran

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at a G20 summit in Asheville, North Carolina, on Sept.

1, 2026. —Peter Zay—Getty Images The U.S.

Treasury issued sweeping new sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, targeting the country’s airlines and their international service providers as it ramps up its effort to isolate Tehran from the global economy .

The aviation sanctions form a significant part of the Trump Administration's ”Operation Economic Outcast,” which the White House has described as “an unprecedented campaign to sever every remaining economic lifeline sustaining the Islamic Republic of Iran.” As negotiations have stalled, and with the U.S. and Iran engaged in active hostilities once more, the economic pressure is intended to push Tehran into a deal to end the war.

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Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines, accusing them of having “long supported the Iranian regime’s destabilizing activities.” The sweeping measures were largely focused on grounding Mahan Air, which was first sanctioned by the U.S. in 2011 and is also subject to E.U. sanctions .

The carrier has long been accused of transporting personnel, equipment, and funds for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The measures build on OFAC’s April and July actions “targeting persons servicing Mahan Air’s domestic and international flights,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.

The U.S. also designated firms based outside of Iran that it said had helped Mahan Air maintain operations by providing goods or services.

This action specifically targets “covert front companies, foreign intermediaries, and deceptive transshipment routes that Iran relies on to obtain U.S.-origin aircraft and sensitive technology,” according to the Treasury.

The OFAC also suspended three Iran-related aviation authorizations that “allowed for overflights, and for non-U.S. airlines to fly U.S.-origin or U.S.-controlled commercial aircraft into Iran.” The sanctions, and their international reach, are intended to "intensify Iran's economic isolation, to further degrade their military capability, and push them to some kind of a concession or settlement that favors the United States,” Jack Roush , a PhD candidate affiliated with the Iranian History Initiative at the London School of Economics, tells TIME.

Here’s what to know about the latest sanctions, how they extend beyond the borders of Iran, and the economic pressure mounting against Tehran.

Aviation sanctions target Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and UAE-based firms The U.S.