The US Treasury has blacklisted more than 30 Iranian passenger airlines and a network of aviation support firms across four countries, in an action published on September 8 seen by IntelliNews.

The designations, made under the Office of Foreign Assets Control's counter-terrorism and Iran aviation programmes, mark one of the widest single sweeps against Iran's civil air sector to date, targeting carriers alongside procurement fronts in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.

OFAC, the Treasury's sanctions arm, has come under significant pressure by the Trump administration in recent months to step up its targeting of Iranian companies and people. This latest action is part of the administration's latest push to cut off air connections between Iran and its nearby neighbours. 

Carriers added to the Specially Designated Nationals list include Iran Aseman Airlines, Iran Air Tour, Qeshm Air, Zagros Airlines, Kish Airlines, Karun Airlines, Taban Airlines and Saha Airlines, the last identified in the filing as the air transport service of Iran's armed forces, many of which have been connecting between Tehran and Istanbul in recent months.

Newer operators named include Air Shiraz, Fly Persia, Fly Kish, Mehr Airways and Soroush Air, several of them established only in 2024 and 2025.

OFAC also targeted support companies linked to Mahan Air, among them ECT Aviation Support LLC of Sharjah, a Malaysian cargo firm, iCargo Sdn Bhd, and freight operators in Turkey and Kazakhstan. A related entity, ECT Aviation Support Ltd, is registered at an address in Morden, south London.

The action names one individual, Ibrahim Ali Mohamed Mohamed Mahran, an Egyptian national based in the UAE and tied to the ECT network.

Alongside the listings, Treasury suspended Iran General Licence J-1, which had authorised the temporary re-export of certain civil aircraft to Iran, and issued wind-down licences allowing counterparties to exit existing transactions.

The carriers were designated under Executive Order 13902, which covers Iran's construction, mining, manufacturing and textile sectors, and the counter-terrorism authority of Executive Order 13224.