{"text":[[{"start":9.42,"text":"One of Iran’s most important airlines has suspended flights on several international routes in a sign of the mounting struggles facing the country’s aviation industry after the US tightened sanctions on entities trading with Tehran."}],[{"start":21.54,"text":"Mahan Air, among the country’s largest and most popular carriers, told travel agencies it was suspending flights to and from Istanbul and Ankara starting on Monday. Flights between Tehran and Muscat in Oman were suspended on Thursday."}],[{"start":36.34,"text":"In the notices to agencies seen by the FT, the airline did not specify the reason for the cancellations beyond saying the move had been made following decisions by aviation authorities in Turkey and Oman."}],[{"start":48.24,"text":"It comes just over a week after the US Treasury announced that it was sanctioning 36 targets for “supporting Iran’s aviation sector”, which it accused of helping move weapons and personnel for the regime."}],[{"start":59.62,"text":"While Mahan was already under sanctions, the latest round targeted several ground service providers and sales agents based in Turkey and elsewhere that the US said worked with the airline. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who also announced sanctions on 27 other carriers as part of the package, threatened further penalties on any individual or company that continued to work with Iranian airlines."}],[{"start":81.9,"text":"“Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines . . . You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system,” he said."}],[{"start":90.54,"text":"The sanctions are part of US President Donald Trump’s strategy to use economic pressure to force Iran to capitulate in its stand-off with Washington over the Strait of Hormuz."}],[{"start":100.42,"text":"Foreign carriers have not returned to Iran since the US and Israel launched the war in February, and the latest suspension leaves Iranians with increasingly limited options to travel overseas."}],[{"start":110.84,"text":"About a third of the flights into Iran on Wednesday were cancelled or simply did not fly. About 50 of the expected 143 services did not operate, including more than half the planned flights from airlines Kish and Iran Airtour, according to data group Cirium."}],[{"start":124.54,"text":"Turkey and Oman are important business hubs for Iranians, and travel agents in Tehran have warned clients that yet more flights could be cancelled. “Other Iranian airlines are still flying to Istanbul and Muscat. But they will probably come next,” said one agent in the city."}],[{"start":140.66,"text":"Mahan will for now continue international flights on other routes including to Russia, China and Thailand, while several other Iranian airlines have been scheduling regular flights to and from the United Arab Emirates, a major hub. But travel agents said that only dual nationals and Iranians with Emirati residence permits could travel there at present."}],[{"start":160.4,"text":"Other countries may follow suit in clamping down on air travel with Iran, with Georgia’s Civil Aviation Agency saying last week that it would act in full compliance with the US sanctions, including with “airlines that currently operate air services between Georgia and Iran”."}],[{"start":175.22,"text":"Majid Akhavan, spokesperson for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation, said negotiations with Georgian authorities were continuing."}],[{"start":183,"text":"This adds to the dire state of Iran’s aviation industry, which has for decades suffered from sanctions, under-investment and ensuing safety concerns."}],[{"start":191.64,"text":"The chief executive of Iran Air, the country’s flagship carrier which is also under US sanctions, gave an interview this week in which he said pressure on the country’s aviation sector was spreading “like metastasising cancer”."}],[{"start":204.82,"text":"Taher Abdolhai told a local news outlet that Iran Air had only nine aircraft running at present, with the rest “either out of operational service or in need of a major overhaul”."}],[{"start":214.218,"text":"US and Israeli bombing also caused severe damage to Iranian airports and aircraft, as well as crucial infrastructure such as radars. Abdolhai said that 30 aircraft across different carriers were damaged, with 10 of those now active and operational again."}],[{"start":229.58,"text":"Two recent incidents have also raised public concerns about flight safety. On Monday, a Sepehran Airlines Boeing 737 had to make an emergency landing in Mashhad after experiencing a technical problem shortly after take-off, three weeks after another Sepehran Boeing 737 ran off the runway. Neither incident resulted in any injuries."}],[{"start":250.18,"text":"Additional reporting by Peter Campbell in London and Anastasia Stognei in Berlin"}],[{"start":258.54,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789700157_6448.mp3"}