The United States is accelerating efforts to cut Iran off from international banking and aviation networks, with several countries in the region suspending financial and aviation links with Tehran amid the ongoing war, according to The Wall Street Journal. US Treasury official Jonathan Berg, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorist Financing, who previously served as a managing director at Citigroup, traveled across the Middle East and Europe for two weeks to warn Iran's trading partners that maintaining commercial ties with Iran could put them at risk of losing access to the US financial system. Officials met with representatives from more than 50 countries during the campaign. As for measures taken by individual countries, Azerbaijan and Georgia have banned Iranian airlines, while Britain plans not to renew a sanctions exemption for Iranian banks operating in London. Oman ordered a suspension of flights by Iran's Mahan Air, which US authorities say is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, before ordering a suspension of all Iranian airline flights this week. The United Arab Emirates also banned the country's branch of Bank Melli Iran, Iran's largest commercial bank, from conducting Iran-related transactions, before later ordering a suspension of Iranian airline flights. Turkey, meanwhile, canceled Mahan Air flights and revoked the license of Bank Mellat, another major Iranian bank used for trade between the two countries. The measures come amid a broad US sanctions push against Iran, with the US Treasury having just announced measures targeting Iran's financial transactions in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, as well as action against a major bank accused of helping Iran evade sanctions. However, Iran still maintains significant trade links with China and Russia, including Mahan Air flight routes, while the government in Tehran seeks relief from pressure through diplomacy. Iran recently offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the United States reduces military pressure and lifts its blockade, and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged this week that sanctions are affecting the economy but insisted that Tehran will resist US pressure.
Citigroup Inc.Multiple countries banned Iranian airline flights, including Oman and Turkey canceling Mahan Air flights, over IRGC links.
Turkey revoked the license of Bank Mellat, a major Iranian bank used for Iran trade, amid the US sanctions push.
