US sets Sept 23 shutdown for Iran airlines; Bessent warns non-compliant entities will be ‘knocked out of dollar system’

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that Iranian airlines will be globally shut down by September 23. Countries allowing Iranian aircraft to land may face secondary sanctions, including exclusion from the dollar system.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that Iranian airlines will be shut down globally by 23 September while he threatened countries that allow Iranian aircraft to land or use any of their facilities with secondary sanctions.

In an interview with CNBC, Bessent said, "On September 23, all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world." He warned that any airport that services Iranian aircraft could face consequences from the US.

"If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets or you will be knocked out of the dollar system," he said.

The comments were made after Bessent concluded his talks on Sunday night with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Bessent also said that Washington was having productive discussions with Beijing's financial authorities, which includes the People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng, on compliance with its sanctions on Iran.

He also said that Chinese officers were "very engaged" in the economic pressure that the US has been putting on Iran.

US sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines earlier this month

Earlier in September, the United States' Department of the Treasury placed 27 Iranian airlines on its Specially Designated Nationals List, which targetted all commercial carriers in the country as part of its pressure campaign.

In a press statement, the department had then claimed, "Iran's commercial airlines have long supported the Iranian regime's destabilising activities."

It also added that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC) has been routinely using private airlines to procure and transfer weapons as well as ferry personnel.

The measure was also aimed at "covert front companies, foreign intermediaries, and deceptive transhipment routes that Iran relies on to obtain US-origin aircraft and sensitive technology," the Treasury release noted.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated four entities based out of Türkiye, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan for operating as cargo service providers and general sales agents for Mahan Air.

The OAFC also suspended authorisations that earlier allowed overflights and also let non-US airlines to operate US-origin or controlled commercial flights to Iran.

With agency inputs

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