Iranian airlines continue international flights amid US sanctions
Iranian airlines continued operating international flights Wednesday, defying a US deadline meant to ground the Middle East nation’s fleet by imposing sanctions on companies that provide services to the carriers.
Passengers queue at the terminal hall after flights resumed at Imam Khomeini International Airport. (REUTERS)Hours after the new US restrictions started, flight tracking site Flightradar24 showed half a dozen services originating in Iran and heading to destinations including Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand; Shanghai; and Kabul, Afghanistan.
Iran’s biggest airport and its main international hub, Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran, still has scheduled flights to international destinations such as China, Turkey, Dubai, as well as Najaf in Iraq.
The most recent set of sanctions targeting Tehran’s aviation industry put airport operators and companies that provide refueling and other services to Iranian carriers at risk of facing secondary sanctions. But implementation and policing non-compliance could be challenging on its own.
Earlier today, President of Airports of Thailand Pcl said they are unable to halt flights that follow international procedures.
“We haven’t received any regulations or directions from the Thai government or the Foreign Ministry, so we can’t do anything but accept them,” Pawina Jariyathithiphong said. The airport has left the door open to suspending flights if directed to do so by Thai authorities.
The deputy director-general for aviation economic development at the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, Sarun Benjanirat, said the regulator hadn’t received any instructions, including from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to stop the flights.
Iranian airlines have been operating a limited network since the war started in February and no foreign carriers have resumed flying to the country since then. Only two civil aviation authorities in countries with air connections to Iran have officially announced a blanket ban on Iranian carriers - Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Iran’s Tasnim agency reported on Tuesday that the civil aviation authority was suspending Tehran flights to Baghdad and Muscat in Oman following directives by their local authorities. At the same time, there are efforts afoot to potentially divert Baghdad-bound flights to Najaf, which holds a religious significance to Shia Muslims.
Mahan Air last week said it was suspending all Turkey and Oman flights indefinitely, based on directives by local authorities. Iran’s second-largest airline has been operating domestic and international routes despite American sanctions over its ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
On Wednesday, Mahan Air had at least six international flights in the skies: three to China, two to Thailand and another to Afghanistan. Varesh Airlines and Iran Airtour flights were en route to the Turkish resort of Izmir.
A later check showed at least seven Iranian commercial flights headed to Istanbul from Tehran, including services by state carrier Iran Air. That airline said Tuesday it hadn’t been informed of any flight bans.
Of the 24 flights from Tehran scheduled to land at Istanbul’s main international airport Wednesday, six services showed cancellations through the day, but most were operating as normal.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week on CNBC that “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world” starting Wednesday through sanctions meant to stop foreign airports from providing the carriers with refueling, ticket sales and other services. Those who ignore the penalties “will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he said.
