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.
asserted
it → issue → 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.”
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House → form → 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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pressure → stall → war
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines, accusing them of having “long supported the Iranian regime’s destabilizing activities.”
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Office → sanction → 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.
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which → focus → sanctions
The carrier has long been accused of transporting personnel, equipment, and funds for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
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carrier → accuse → Corps
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.
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Bessent → build → flights
The U.S. also designated firms based outside of Iran that it said had helped Mahan Air maintain operations by providing goods or services.
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Air → designate → goods
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.
uncertain
Iran → target → 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.
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airlines → suspend → 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.
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Roush → intend → 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.
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they → ’ → Tehran
Aviation sanctions target Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Turkey, and UAE-based firms
The U.S. Treasury has accused Iran of using front companies and other pass-through entities in third countries in an attempt to evade aviation links back to Tehran and has extended sanctions to nine internationally-based entities it alleges have aided these efforts.
Measures were imposed on two UAE-based commercial entities and a UAE-based individual, as well as one Turkish-based and one U.K.-based firm.
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Measures → target → entities
Four cargo providers and general sales agents were also sanctioned, accused of servicing Mahan Air and coordinating shipments on behalf of the airline.
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providers → sanction → airline
Two are based in Turkey, one in Kazakhstan, and one in Malaysia.
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Two → base → Malaysia
The new sweeping sanctions “will exacerbate challenges that Iran already faces in maintaining its fleet,” says Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House.
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Vakil → exacerbate → House
With the reliance on foreign entities to maintain Iran’s aging fleet, the measures targeting companies outside of Iran will likely damage Tehran’s aviation capabilities, she says, as it will “restrict Iran's ability to rely on those regional hubs” and could prompt “international carriers [to] further reduce or suspend Iranian services.”
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it → maintain → services
“If that happens, then this becomes a blockade of Iran's aviation infrastructure, which is quite serious,” says Vakil.
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Vakil → happen → infrastructure
U.S. issues warning to anyone doing business with Iran amid effort to choke Tehran off from global economy
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U.S. → issue → economy
The U.S. Treasury has vowed to isolate any international entity that continues to show support to Mahan Air.
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that → vow → Air
“Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned,” Bessent said.
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Bessent → let → which
“You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system.
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You → cut → system
In recent weeks, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on banking institutions in other countries, accusing the lenders of enabling Iran.
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U.S. → impose → Iran
On. Aug. 28, the U.S. moved to cut off Egyptian Banque Misr's UAE-located branches from the dollar-based financial system.
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U.S. → move → system
Banque Misr said it is reviewing the notice from the U.S. Treasury and will communicate with the department “to obtain further information and maintain ongoing cooperation.”
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it → say → cooperation
Days later, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Turkey's Golden Global investment bank and two subsidiaries, accusing it of enabling the transfer of oil revenues from China to Iran.
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Treasury → sanction → Iran
Golden Global rejected the allegations, calling them “entirely unfounded and inconsistent.
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Global → reject → them
The sanctions were significant, marking the first time a bank in a NATO ally had been hit under the current economic campaign, experts told Reuters.
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experts → mark → Reuters
In 2019, Turkish state-run lender Halkbank was charged in a Manhattan federal court, accused of participating in a “multibillion-dollar Iranian sanctions evasion scheme.”
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Halkbank → charge → scheme
The charges—referred to by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as “ugly”—dragged on for years, before a settlement was reached in March
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settlement → refer → March
Halkbank was barred from entering transactions that benefit Iran and had to hire a compliance monitor to review its sanctions and anti-money-laundering programs.
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that → bar → sanctions
The two NATO allies have also clashed in their differences of opinion related to Israel's operations in Gaza, Trump’s tariff policies, and Washington’s maintained block on F-35 fighter jet sales to Turkey while Ankara still holds Russian-made S-400 air defense systems.
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Ankara → clash → systems
Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida earlier this week said “Turkey is not our friend” as he showed support for the sanctions targeting firms in the country.
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he → say → country
“Bessent had to crack down on them for actively funding Iranian terrorists,” he claimed.
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he → have → terrorists
How corporations in other countries respond to the U.S. measures “is an important test” for the Trump Administration, Roush says, noting that despite Washington’s crackdown on international entities supporting the Iranian economy, some have shown they’re willing to continue doing business with Tehran.
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they → respond → Tehran
They tend to continue their trade ties or banking ties with Iran.
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They → tend → Iran
The UAE has done, or well, they're trying to do a good job of severing these ties with Iran, but other states in the region, like Iraq and Azerbaijan and Turkey, are continuing to trade with Iran
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states → do → Iran
,” says Roush.
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Roush → say → ?
“Iran is an important trading partner for them, and I think it's going to take a significant amount of diplomatic pressure to impose some kind of a full blockade of Iran.
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it → think → Iran
How Iran has responded to the aviation sanctions
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations Gholamhossein Darzi on Wednesday argued that Washington’s sanctions amount to “economic terrorism” and “collective punishment,” according to Iran's Mehr news agency.
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sanctions → respond → agency
…and 11 more, not listed.
