Donald Trump-led United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on “all remaining Iranian airlines” that had not previously been targeted, as Washington moved to increase economic pressure on Tehran.The US treasury department said the latest sanctions target “36 targets for supporting Iran’s aviation sector, which the regime uses to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo.”The measures cover 27 Iranian airlines and companies based in countries including the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.“Essentially, we’re taking the entire aviation sector of the Iranian economy out of the market,” a US Treasury official told reporters on condition of anonymity.The sanctions came as the US and Iran remained locked in a war that began in late February. US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior military officials at the start of the conflict, which aimed to weaken the Iranian regime and destroy its nuclear programme.Iran responded by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, sending global oil prices higher as the conflict spread across the Middle East.US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has promised to impose “economic D-Day” on Iran and cut off its access to money.“Under Operation Economic Outcast, we promised severe consequences for those providing financial lifelines to the Iranian regime,” Bessent said Tuesday in a statement.He warned that companies doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines could be cut off from the global financial system.The latest sanctions also target companies in other countries that “facilitate US-sanctioned Mahan Air’s proliferation activity, terrorist-linked flight operations, and illicit procurement of US-origin aircraft.”The treasury department also targeted “cargo service providers and general sales agents that have serviced Mahan Air’s international flights.”Mahan Air, an Iranian airline, has been accused of supporting activities linked to Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
