OFAC targets Iranian airlines and global aviation network, suspends aircraft license

WASHINGTON, September 8, 2026 — The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added one individual and 35 entities to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List as part of a broad Iran-related sanctions action focused heavily on the aviation sector.

The action designated numerous Iranian passenger carriers, including Iran Aseman Airlines, Kish Airlines, Iran Air Tour, Qeshm Air, Zagros Airlines, Sepehran Airlines and ATA Airlines. OFAC said those carriers are subject to secondary sanctions under authorities targeting Iran’s economy and financial sector.

OFAC also sanctioned aviation, cargo and logistics companies outside Iran that it linked to previously designated Mahan Air. They include ECT Aviation Support LLC in the United Arab Emirates, ECT Aviation Support Ltd in the United Kingdom, iCargo Sdn Bhd in Malaysia, two logistics companies in Turkey and Tour Invest LLC in Kazakhstan.

Egyptian national Ibrahim Ali Mohamed Mohamed Mahran, based in the UAE, was also designated. OFAC linked Mahran to ECT Aviation Support LLC. British corporate records list Mahran as the director and person with significant control of ECT Aviation Support Ltd, incorporated in February 2024.

Alongside the designations, OFAC suspended Iran General License J-1, which had authorized the temporary reexportation of certain civil aircraft to Iran and related transactions. The agency issued Iran General License DD to permit the wind-down of certain civil aviation transactions previously authorized under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. It also issued Counter Terrorism General License 37 covering the wind-down of transactions involving certain persons blocked Sept. 8.

Mahan Air has been under US counterterrorism sanctions since 2011 for providing financial, material and technological support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.