U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Companies Aiding Iranian Airlines
U.S. imposed sanctions on nine individuals or companies for supporting Mahan Air subject to penalties.
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. imposed sanctions Thursday on nine individuals or companies for providing support to Iranian airlines already subject to penalties.
The Treasury Department added fresh sanctions to Tehran-based Mahan Air for playing a “critical role in exporting the Iranian regime’s malign influence,” the department said in a statement. Mahan Air has “routinely” flown fighters and material to Syria to help the regime of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, according to Treasury.
Mahan Air was designated in 2011 for supporting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.
“Countries and companies around the world should take note of the risks associated with granting landing rights and providing aviation services to the airlines used by Iran to export terrorism throughout the region,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
“The deceptive practices these airlines employ to illegally obtain services and U.S. goods is yet another example of the duplicitous ways in which the Iranian regime has operated,” Mnuchin said.
Mnuchin said the facilitators designated on Thursday have been procuring parts and providing services for sanctioned Iranian airlines including Mahan, Caspian Air, Meraj Air, and Pouya Air.
Since President Donald Trump announced the U.S.’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal on May 9, the Treasury Department has sought to isolate the country with more sanctions. The U.S. sanctioned Iran’s central bank governor, an Iran-linked currency exchange network and the leader of Hezbollah for his destabilizing actions with Iran in the Middle East.
On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report that Iran’s uranium enrichment and other nuclear activities remain in compliance with limits permitted by world powers in the 2015 agreement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Saleha Mohsin in Washington at smohsin2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Ros Krasny
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