(Adnkronos) – The main Iranian airlines were forced today to cancel international flights, on the first day of new US sanctions coming into effect, whose impact remains difficult to assess. But not all planes remained grounded. A Mahan Air company plane, one of the two main Iranian airlines operating international connections, landed around 8:40 GMT in China. Yesterday, Beijing had rejected US threats to impose sanctions on anyone maintaining ties with the Iranian aviation sector, calling these measures “unilateral and illegal”.
With these new, unprecedented sanctions, the United States intends to further increase economic pressure on Tehran. In early September, Washington had blacklisted the entire Iranian aviation sector, with the aim of paralyzing Iranian airlines “worldwide”. The sanctions have already produced some effects. Yesterday, Mahan Air announced the suspension of all its flights to neighboring Turkey, at the request of the Turkish authorities. And today, a major travel agency in Tehran told AFP that flights to Baghdad (Iraq), Muscat (Oman), Qatar, Georgia, and Azerbaijan were suspended and that no tickets were being sold. “The situation is unstable and we are currently no longer selling tickets for fear of cancellations,” a travel agent told AFP.
Iran has a total of 27 airlines, but most operate exclusively domestic connections. The two main ones, the flag carrier Iran Air and the private Mahan Air, normally operate most of the international connections, mainly to neighboring countries, but also to Russia and China. Iran Air stated in a press release issued before the sanctions came into effect that it had not received, for its part, any official instructions from Turkey, Azerbaijan, or Iraq prohibiting it from serving these countries bordering Iran.
According to the Tehran International Airport website, no Iran Air flights seemed to be scheduled for departure. With the exception of China, all flights indicated as departing or arriving were operated by small airlines. Among others, flights to and from Istanbul and Van (Turkey), Najaf (Iraq), and Dubai were listed, but not operated by Mahan Air or Iran Air.
Meanwhile, several countries have already taken measures in response to US sanctions. Georgia banned all Iranian flights over its territory from Monday, while Oman did the same, according to Iranian media, which nevertheless report ongoing negotiations with Muscat. In Iraq, authorities have not yet expressed an official position, but Baghdad airport is closed to Iranian planes and several sources, including a senior government official, told AFP that Baghdad would comply with the US ban. The Iranian civil aviation hopes to be able to divert flights to Najaf airport, a holy city in central Iraq frequently visited by Iranian pilgrims, its spokesperson explained to Iranian media.
