Bessent cites airline and bank curbs in US pressure campaign on Iran

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on 26 September that Washington’s campaign to isolate Iran was producing results, citing restrictions on Iranian flights and banking in Turkey, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. His remarks, made in an X post reported by Asharq Al-Awsat and The Times of India, followed a US sanctions package targeting Iran’s aviation sector. [6] [7]

The US Treasury sanctioned 36 targets on 8 September, including 27 Iranian airlines. It also warned that entities helping Iran evade sanctions could face exclusion from the US financial system or secondary sanctions. [2]

Mahan Air subsequently announced it would suspend its Tehran–Muscat service from 17 September and its Tehran–Istanbul and Tehran–Ankara services from 21 September, IranWire reported. The UAE suspended flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country from 24 September until further notice, according to The National. [4] [5]

The banking measures differ in scope. The UAE central bank barred Bank Melli Iran’s branches in the country from handling transactions to or from Iran. In Turkey, Bank Mellat said the operating licence of its Istanbul branch had been revoked and liquidation had begun. Bessent referred more broadly to leading commercial banks in the two countries stopping Iran transactions. [5] [3] [7]