Tehran (AFP) – Iranian airlines were forced to cancel some international flights on Wednesday after the United States tightened sanctions on Iran’s aviation industry in a new effort to cripple its economy. Georgia and Azerbaijan have officially confirmed suspending flights, and a travel agent in Tehran told AFP that flights to Baghdad, Muscat, and Qatar were also halted, though routes to other destinations remained available, including China.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the new measures on Monday as part of an earlier threat to impose “economic D-Day” on Iran, an attempt to force it into submission following nearly seven months of war. “We are squeezing the Iranians like they’ve never seen,” Bessent told Fox News on Wednesday, adding “probably more than 80 or 90 percent” of external flights from Iran “got shut down.” “I’m not sure how the Iranian representatives at the UN are going to get home,” Bessent said.
The Iranian delegation attending the United Nations General Assembly currently underway in New York includes Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, who struck a defiant tone. “The resistance of the Iranian people will only intensify in the face of sanctions, mounting pressure, and growing intimidation” from the United States, Pezeshkian said.
Despite the fresh pressure, Iran’s aviation sector has already been a target of sanctions for years, and it remains to be seen which other countries will comply. On Wednesday, the head of Iran’s top national security body threatened reciprocal action against those that do. Even after the new sanctions took effect on Wednesday, a flight from Tehran operated by Mahan Air, one of Iran’s biggest carriers, landed in Guangzhou in China, according to tracking data from FlightRadar24. China said on Tuesday that it opposed the US sanctions, calling them illegal. A flight to Shanghai was also due to depart on Wednesday, according to Tehran’s international airport.
Some flights to Istanbul were also scheduled, though others had been cancelled, the travel agent in Tehran told AFP. “The situation is unstable and we are no longer selling tickets for the time being for fear of cancellations,” the agent said, requesting anonymity. A Mahan flight from Kabul was also expected to arrive in Tehran. According to the website for Tehran’s international airport, other connections to Turkey and Armenia remained possible on smaller Iranian airlines, including Varesh. Flights to Najaf in Iraq and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates were also scheduled.
Mohsen Rezaei, the head of Iran’s supreme national security council, warned neighbouring countries not to comply. “If a country cooperates with or embarks on adventures with the United States, its airports will no longer be able to operate flights” to Iran, he said in an interview with state TV.
Iranian media also reported cancellations, with the Tasnim news agency on Tuesday citing a civil aviation spokesman as saying that Baghdad and Muscat airports “will no longer accept” Iranian flights. The agency added that “other international flights, including Istanbul, will operate as scheduled.” According to Tasnim, Iran’s aviation authorities were in talks to reroute Baghdad flights to Najaf, a major destination for Iranian religious pilgrims. On Wednesday, the agency said its correspondent in Najaf had reported Iranian flights to the city were running as normal. It quoted a source at the airport as saying no order had been received from Iraqi authorities to halt flights.
While the Iraqi government has not announced plans to enforce the ban, several sources, including a senior government official, told AFP that Baghdad would comply with the US measures. The prospect of a suspension of flights between the two countries has sparked concerns among some Iraqi travel agents, with one in Najaf, Haidar Shamaa, saying “most travel companies in the city depend on booking flights” to Iranian airports. Several travel agencies said panicked clients were calling for updates and were considering switching to land routes, which would mean much longer journeys.
© 2024 AFP
