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U.S. Sanctions Disrupt Iranian Airlines, but Mahan Air Maintains Some International Flights

Iranian airlines have suspended services to several regional destinations after U.S. sanctions targeted access to fuel, ground handling and ticket sales abroad. Yet Mahan Air and other carriers continued flying to destinations including China, Turkey and Thailand, underscoring the limits of unilateral enforcement.

Discovered 2026-09-23T01:51:17.984797-07:00 | 2026-09-23T01:51:17.984797-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

The sanctions seek to restrict the operational inputs Iranian airlines need abroad—including fuel, ground handling and ticket sales—but flights to China, Turkey and Thailand continued, exposing uneven enforcement.
Route suspensions to Baghdad, Muscat, Qatar, Georgia and Azerbaijan show immediate network disruption, while remaining services preserve some international connectivity.
The gap between Washington’s stated global grounding policy and airlines’ continued operations highlights the importance of destination-country cooperation and access to overseas aviation services.

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