Iran Airlines Cancel Flights as US Sanctions Hit 

Iranian airlines have cancelled some international flights after new United States sanctions targeting the country’s aviation industry took effect on Wednesday.

A travel agent in Tehran told AFP that flights to Baghdad, Muscat, Qatar, Georgia and Azerbaijan had been suspended, although services to several other destinations, including China, remained available.

The cancellations followed new measures announced by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday as Washington stepped up economic pressure on Iran following nearly seven months of war.

Iran’s aviation industry has been under US sanctions for years, however, and the full impact of the latest measures remained unclear, particularly over whether other countries would comply.

Despite the new restrictions, a Mahan Air flight from Tehran landed in Guangzhou, China, on Wednesday, according to FlightRadar24 tracking data.

China had opposed the US measures on Tuesday, describing the sanctions as illegal. A flight from Tehran to Shanghai was also scheduled for Wednesday, according to the city’s international airport.

Some flights to Istanbul were operating as scheduled, although others had been cancelled, the Tehran-based travel agent said.

The agent, who requested anonymity, said the situation remained unstable and that the agency had stopped selling tickets temporarily because of fears of further cancellations.

Other international connections remained possible. A Mahan Air flight from Kabul was expected to arrive in Tehran around midday, while smaller Iranian airlines, including Varesh, were still scheduled to operate some services to Turkey and Armenia.

Flights to Najaf in Iraq and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates were also listed on Tehran’s international airport schedule.

Bessent had warned on Monday that the United States would seek to shut down Iranian airlines and penalise businesses that continued dealing with them.

“If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he warned other countries.

He warned other countries against providing Iranian carriers with services such as fuel, landing facilities or ticket sales, saying companies that did so could face exclusion from the US dollar system.

The measures are expected to make it more difficult for Iranians to travel abroad or return home.

Iranian media also reported some cancellations.

Tasnim news agency on Tuesday quoted a civil aviation spokesman as saying that airports in Baghdad and Muscat would no longer accept Iranian flights.

The agency, however, reported that other international services, including flights to Istanbul, would continue normally.

Iranian aviation authorities were also discussing the possibility of rerouting flights to Baghdad to Najaf, an important destination for Iranian pilgrims.

In Iraq, the government has not publicly announced whether it will enforce the US measures, but several sources, including a senior government official, told AFP that Baghdad would comply.

The possibility of suspended flights between Iran and Iraq has raised concerns among travel agents in Najaf, where much of the travel industry depends on connections with Iranian airports.

Several agencies said worried customers had been seeking updates and considering switching to land routes, which would involve significantly longer journeys.