Operation Economic Outcast Targets All Remaining Iranian Airlines
WASHINGTON— Today, under Operation Economic Outcast, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 36 targets for supporting Iran’s aviation sector, which the regime uses to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo. Today’s action also targeted covert front companies, foreign intermediaries, and deceptive transshipment routes that Iran relies on to obtain U.S.-origin aircraft and sensitive technology. In addition to OFAC’s action, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing an Alert asking financial institutions to report procurement networks supporting Iran’s aviation industry.
“Under Operation Economic Outcast, we promised severe consequences for those providing financial lifelines to the Iranian regime,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Today, we followed through on that promise with sanctions on companies that continue to support Mahan Air. Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned today: You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system.”
As part of this action, OFAC is also targeting third-country firms that facilitate U.S.-sanctioned Mahan Air’s proliferation activity, terrorist-linked flight operations, and illicit procurement of U.S.-origin aircraft. Concurrently, OFAC is suspending three Iran-related aviation authorizations to put additional pressure on the Iranian regime. These include authorizations that allowed for overflights, and for non-U.S. airlines to fly U.S.-origin or U.S.-controlled commercial aircraft into Iran. OFAC will consider aviation safety-related requests on a case-by-case basis.
Any foreign firm or individual enabling sanctioned Iranian airlines—including through aircraft transfers, cargo services, or general sales agent support—will face serious consequences for supporting the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. As Secretary Bessent has stated, Operation Economic Outcast will sever the economic lifelines that sustain the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) via a sustained and systematic campaign to close every financial resource, including the aviation sector, that supports the leading state sponsor of terror. Any person that assists Iran’s aviation sector, from the provision of general sales agent services through to support to Iran’s covert aircraft procurement schemes, will be held accountable.
OFAC is taking this action pursuant to the counterterrorism authority Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, and E.O. 13902, which targets certain sectors of the Iranian economy. This action leverages the August 24, 2026 aviation sector determination under E.O. 13902 to sanction the remaining active Iranian airlines and intensify efforts to isolate Iran’s terrorist regime from the global financial system. It also builds on OFAC’s April and July 2026 sanctions actions targeting persons servicing Mahan Air’s domestic and international flights. On October 12, 2011, OFAC designated Mahan Air pursuant to E.O. 13224 for providing financial, material, and technological support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), which OFAC designated pursuant to E.O. 13224 in October 2007 for providing support to multiple terrorist organizations. In December 2019, the U.S. Department of State designated Mahan Air pursuant to E.O. 13382, which targets weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferators and their supporters.
OPERATION ECONOMIC OUTCAST IS ISOLATING THE IRANIAN REGIME
Announced by Secretary Bessent on August 24, 2026, dubbed Economic D-Day, Operation Economic Outcast is severing the remaining economic lifelines that sustain the Iranian regime. Treasury has mapped the networks, facilitators, and financial channels that Iran uses to smuggle oil, evade sanctions, and fund terror. Working with partners across the U.S. government, the European Union, United Kingdom, Gulf partners, and others, Treasury is targeting any source of the regime’s illicit revenue.
Treasury warned that any entity facilitating money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran risks being cut off from the U.S. financial system. It also expands secondary sanctions exposure for those who continue doing business with the Iranian regime and will accelerate the pace of U.S. enforcement. More information on Operation Economic Outcast is available here.
IRANIAN AIRLINES
Iran’s commercial airlines have long supported the Iranian regime’s destabilizing activities, with the IRGC using ostensibly private airlines, such as Mahan Air, for the procurement and transport of weapons and the ferrying of personnel. On August 24, 2026, Economic D-Day, Treasury issued determinations against critical sectors––including aviation––that the Iranian regime uses to try to prop up its failing economy. Today, OFAC is announcing its inaugural designations of Iranian airlines pursuant to this determination.
OFAC is designating the following 27 Iranian airlines pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the aviation sector of the Iranian economy:
- Air Shiraz
- Asa Jet Airline
- Ata Airlines Company
- Atlas Aviation Group
- Ava Airlines
- Chabahar Airlines Company
- Erwan Airline Company
- Fly Kish Airlines
- Fly Persia Airlines
- Iran Air Tour
- Iran Aseman Airlines
- Jsky Airlines
- Kish Airlines
- Karun Airlines Company
- Lad Airways
- Mehr Airways
- Nasim Air
- Pars Oghyanous Kish Company
- Qeshm Air
- Raimon Airways
- Saha Airlines
- Sepehran Airlines
- Soroush Air
- Taban Airlines
- Toos Airlines
- Varesh Airlines
- Zagros Airlines
COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT PROCUREMENT
As identified in past OFAC advisories, Iran has long engaged in deceptive practices with respect to aviation, to include the use of front companies and other pass-through entities in third countries to obfuscate the ultimate Iranian end-user of U.S.-origin aircraft and aviation-related materials. The civil aviation industry should be alert to deceptive practices used by some Iranian persons, designated airlines, and their agents or affiliates to acquire U.S.-origin aircraft or related goods, technology, or services subject to U.S. jurisdiction in violation of U.S. sanctions.
Today’s FinCEN Alert underscores these risks for financial institutions, as well, highlighting several key red flag indicators to help them detect, prevent, and report potentially suspicious activity involving Iran’s efforts to procure aircraft and aircraft parts.
In summer 2026, Mahan Air received at least three B-777 aircraft that were diverted through the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. UAE-based ECT Aviation Support LLC (ECT Aviation Support UAE) and Türkiye-based Sky Phoenix Hava Yollari Tasimaciligi Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Sky Phoenix) served as intermediaries in the scheme to transfer U.S.‑origin aircraft to Mahan Air. Each aircraft originated from a retired fleet before passing through ECT Aviation Support UAE, where they received temporary registrations. The transfer route closely mirrored previous sanctions evasion operations for Mahan Air.
UAE-based Egyptian national Ibrahim Ali Mohamed Mohamed Mahran (Mahran) is the chief executive officer, managing director, founder, and owner of ECT Aviation Support UAE. United Kingdom (UK)-based ECT Aviation Support LTD (ECT Aviation Support UK) is wholly owned by ECT Aviation Support UAE, which is owned by Mahran. Mahran is also the director of ECT Aviation Support UK and has served as its director since the company’s establishment.
UAE-based Aerobravo Airplane Management and Operation LLC (Aerobravo Airplane Management) has acted as the operator for aircraft owned by ECT Aviation Support UAE.
ECT Aviation Support UAE and Sky Phoenix are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Mahan Air. Mahran is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being a leader or official of ECT Aviation Support UAE. ECT Aviation Support UK is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Mahran. Aerobravo Airplane Management is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, ECT Aviation Support UAE.
CARGO SERVICES PROVIDERS AND GENERAL SALES AGENTS
Lastly, OFAC is taking action against cargo service providers and general sales agents that have serviced Mahan Air’s international flights. General sales agents provide a range of services to airlines, including sales and customer support services and coordination with freight forwarders and shippers on the airline’s behalf.
Türkiye-based S Sistem Lojistik Hizmetler Anonim Sirketi (S Sistem) has coordinated shipments, including unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) components and industrial equipment destined for Iran, on behalf of Mahan Air. Türkiye-based Mes Cargo Transportation Tourism and Foreign Trade Limited Company (Mes Cargo) is serving as a general sales agent for Mahan Air and has coordinated shipments on behalf of Mahan Air.
Malaysia-based Icargo SDN BHD (Icargo) has served as a general sales agent for Mahan Air and has coordinated the shipment of U.S.-origin parts to Iran on Mahan Air’s behalf. Kazakhstan-based Tour Invest LLC (Tour Invest) has served as a general sales agent for Mahan Air.
S Sistem, Mes Cargo, Icargo, and Tour Invest are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Mahan Air.
FINCEN’S ALERT TO COUNTER IRANIAN PROCUREMENT EFFORTS FOR ITS COMMERCIAL AVIATION INDUSTRY
FinCEN’s Alert to Counter Iranian Procurement Efforts for its Commercial Aviation Industry contains red flags and typologies to help financial institutions detect, prevent, and report suspicious activity potentially involving Iran’s procurement of aircraft and aircraft parts, including when Iran’s direct involvement is not readily identifiable in transaction details. Iran employs deceptive schemes to illicitly procure U.S.- and Western-origin aircraft and aircraft parts. Iranian airlines procure aircraft, as well as needed parts and services, using front companies in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Front companies posing as technology, aviation, or logistics companies in third-country jurisdictions will also often purchase aircraft components and related dual-use items from the United States or other Western countries for subsequent export to Iran. FinCEN encourages U.S. financial institutions to remain vigilant for suspicious activity that may be connected to Iranian aviation sector procurement networks and to report it immediately to FinCEN.
FinCEN’s alert is available at FinCEN.gov.
For questions on this Alert, please contact FinCEN at http://www.fincen.gov/contact.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons.
Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions. Individuals located in the U.S. or abroad who provide information about sanctions violations to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s whistleblower incentive program may be eligible for awards if the information they provide leads to a successful enforcement action that results in monetary penalties exceeding $1,000,000. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities with designated or otherwise blocked persons.
Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions. OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining, in the United States, a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant transaction on behalf of a person who is designated pursuant to the relevant authority.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, or to submit a request, please refer to OFAC’s guidance on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List.
Click here for more information on the persons designated today.
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