US targets Iran’s aviation sector with new sanctions

• New US sanctions target Iran's last untouched aviation networks, hitting 36 airlines and suppliers accused of moving weapons and illicit cargo.

The Trump administration escalated its economic pressure campaign against Tehran on Tuesday, imposing sanctions on more than two dozen commercial and private Iranian airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers.

The move extends the administration's broader Operation Economic Outcast initiative, a campaign designed to sever critical financial lifelines for a government that is already among the most heavily sanctioned in the world. 

Tuesday's penalties zero in on what officials describe as the last untouched corners of Iran's aviation network, an industry that has faced sweeping US restrictions for years. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the sanctions as a direct threat to anyone still doing business with Iranian carriers, warning that companies working with any of the country's remaining airlines, all of which were sanctioned Tuesday, risk being severed from the global financial system. 

“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.”

According to the Treasury Department, the 36 entities named this week are accused of helping Iran use its aviation sector to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo. 

The action comes amid elevated tensions between Washington and Tehran, with the US military recently striking oil tankers and Iran claiming retaliatory attacks on vessels linked to American interests.

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