The U.S. Treasury Department will step up pressure on Iran’s aviation sector from Wednesday, with Secretary Scott Bessent warning that all Iranian airlines will be shut down globally through tighter sanctions and secondary sanctions on foreign service providers. The measures are aimed at airports, fuel suppliers, ground handlers, ticket sellers and banks that continue to support Iranian carriers, making international operations far harder to sustain.
Bessent linked the move to Washington’s wider sanctions campaign against Tehran’s aviation network, which already targeted 27 Iranian airlines and other sector entities earlier in September. The latest phase extends the pressure beyond Iran’s borders, threatening third-country companies with exclusion from the U.S. dollar system if they provide fuel, landing services or ticketing support.
The policy is designed to make it practically impossible for Iranian airlines to operate internationally, particularly through refuelling and ground services at foreign airports. Treasury has framed the crackdown as part of its broader effort to cut financial lifelines to the Iranian regime and to penalise firms that continue business with sanctioned carriers.