Arabic version: الولايات المتحدة تهدد بوقف شركات الطيران الإيرانية عالمياً

According to Al Jazeera, United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iranian airlines could effectively be excluded from international travel from Wednesday as Washington warns foreign companies of secondary sanctions for continuing to serve the carriers.

“On September 23, all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world,” Bessent told CNBC on Monday. The warning extends beyond the airlines to airports, fuel suppliers, ticketing companies and other businesses required for overseas operations. Bessent said companies could not provide fuel, landing services or tickets to Iranian carriers without risking exclusion from the dollar system.

The action is the latest step in the Donald Trump administration’s economic campaign against Tehran, which has continued alongside the war between the US and Iran. Earlier this month, the Treasury imposed sanctions on remaining Iranian airlines that had not already been targeted, as well as companies outside Iran accused of supporting the country’s aviation sector.

Iran’s aviation industry has already faced years of US sanctions that have complicated purchases of new aircraft, spare parts and maintenance services. The measures form part of a wider sanctions regime targeting Iran’s access to the international financial system, with secondary sanctions also affecting foreign business ties in energy, shipping, technology, gold and digital assets.

Bessent made the comments after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng before Trump’s planned Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said Chinese officials had been “very engaged” in the US pressure campaign and that Washington was holding positive discussions with Chinese financial authorities, including People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng, on compliance with US sanctions on Iran.