Washington’s Iran airline squeeze

Дата публикации: 23-09-2026 19:02:14

Washington’s Iran airline squeeze
Welcome back to AL-MONITOR Business & Tech.US sanctions aimed at grounding Iranian airlines worldwide took effect Wednesday, but the country’s carriers continued to fly. Saudi Arabia also restarted a key oil pipeline this week, while hopes grew that Tehran and Washington could return to negotiations to end the war.Sign up for weekly updates here.Thanks for reading,Jack (@jackvdutton)Iran airlines defy US sanctionsA Kish Air Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-82 passenger aircraft prepares for landing at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport on June 20, 2026. — ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty ImagesIranian carriers were still flying to China, Thailand, Turkey and other destinations on Wednesday, hours after new US sanctions took effect with the aim of grounding them worldwide. Flight-tracking data indicated that foreign airlines had largely complied. What happened: Flightradar24 showed scores of flights leaving Iran on Wednesday for destinations including Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand, Shanghai in China and Kabul in Afghanistan.Other flights were scheduled to Ankara and Istanbul in Turkey, Baghdad and Sulaymaniyah in Iraq, Muscat in Oman, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Tbilisi in Georgia and Yerevan in Armenia.All flights shown as operating from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport — Iran’s main international airport — were run by Iranian carriers, including ATA Airlines, Caspian Airlines, Fly Sepehran, Iran Air, Iran Airtour, Qeshm Air and Varesh Airlines.Istanbul remained the busiest international destination for flights from Tehran Imam Khomeini, with 24 flights scheduled on Wednesday. Why it matters: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told CNBC on Monday that there would be a global “shutdown” of Iranian airlines beginning Wednesday and that companies providing Iranian aircraft with landing services would be “knocked out of the dollar system.” Whether flights continue will depend partly on how governments, airports and other aviation service providers respond. Saudi brings oil pipeline backA general view of Saudi Aramco's Abqaiq oil processing plant on Sept. 20, 2019. — FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty ImagesOil prices fell on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia partially resumed operations at its key East-West Pipeline and resumed exports from its Red Sea port of Yanbu.
The East-West Pipeline, which carried most of Saudi Arabia’s crude across the country for export, was closed earlier this month after a drone attack that Riyadh said was from Iraq, home to Iranian-backed militias.Concerns over Middle Eastern supply risks soon resurfaced. Oil prices rose more than 3% Wednesday despite the prospect of renewed US-Iran talks to end the nearly seven-month war. Brent crude, the international oil price benchmark, was at $102.32 at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, up 3.08% from the close the day before.
Trump meeting: On the diplomatic side, Middle Eastern countries met with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly this week to discuss a solution to the conflict and a plan to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been disrupted since the US-Israel-Iran war started on Feb. 28. 
Only three commodity vessels moved through the waterway in the past day, preliminary tanker-tracking data by Kpler showed on Wednesday.Meanwhile, the world’s biggest oil company, Saudi Aramco, reportedly cut its crude exports to European customers for September and October while shifting more barrels to Asian buyers as the kingdom's energy trade routes remain under pressure amid the Middle East conflict.Turkey’s fund scandalTurkish police surround Istanbul's courthouse on Jan. 11, 2023. — OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty ImagesTurkey detained 14 additional people on Tuesday as authorities widened one of the country’s biggest market-manipulation probes, deepening a Ponzi-like scandal involving more than $18 billion in assets that has affected more than 350,000 investors.Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said Tuesday that the suspects were detained in raids in Istanbul and the western province of Aydin, bringing in 14 of the 15 people sought in connection with alleged market manipulation.Tuesday's raids came on top of 15 detentions made a day earlier in Istanbul as part of the same investigation.Background: Turkey’s investment fund scandal erupted last week after Pusula Portfoy was unable to meet some investor withdrawal requests, while Tera Yatirim Holding later reported payment defaults in two of its funds as redemption demands surged.  Regulators subsequently ordered several associated funds into liquidation as investors rushed to pull their money. Authorities have since moved to contain the fallout, ordering 131 investment funds into liquidation.Read Ezgi Akin’s full report here. Chart of the week Saudi Arabia has been running increasingly large deficits in recent years due to high public spending on Vision 2030, its ambitious transformation program to diversify the economy away from oil. The US-Iran war is now delivering an even bigger blow to the Saudi public purse. The government has already accumulated a $43.1 billion deficit in the first half of 2026, almost the entire $44.4 billion full-year deficit originally forecast in the budget.The kingdom’s real gross domestic product growth is expected to contract by 0.9% this year amid the conflict in the region. Real GDP growth is expected to bounce back to 8.2% in 2027.What we found interesting this weekThe LIV Golf logo is displayed in this undated promotional picture. — LIV GolfThe PGA Tour said Tuesday that it is not currently considering a new pathway for LIV Golf players to return, further complicating the future of golfers who joined the Saudi-backed circuit. The setback comes as Saudi Arabia shifts its sports strategy toward hosting major events and away from costly efforts to build new leagues, following LIV Golf’s financial struggles, experts told Al-Monitor.LIV, the breakaway golf competition that was once a threat to the Professional Golfers' Association of America, has vowed to push on after losing its backing from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund in April and declaring bankruptcy last week, but could struggle to stay afloat in the absence of money from the kingdom.New focus: Robert Mogielnicki, a nonresident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, said that Saudi Arabia still has "plenty of interests in sports and entertainment assets," but is unlikely to undertake an endeavor like LIV Golf again with its billions of dollars in startup costs. "The higher-risk investment initiatives like starting up new leagues, however, are unlikely to be a primary focus going forward," Mogielnicki told Al-Monitor. Also on our radarA pedestrian passes by the Treasury Building in Washington on Jan. 18, 2023. — MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images🪙 The US has sanctioned Iranian crypto exchange BitBank over payments made by Iran’s digital maritime-insurance scheme known as Hormuz Safe.🛩️ Serbia has opened a factory to assemble Israeli-made drones that will supply the Serbian military and armed forces from other countries.⚛️ Turkey and the United States signed a grant agreement Tuesday to support work toward the deployment of small modular reactors in the Eurasian country.🎬 Saudi Arabia postponed its flagship Red Sea International Film Festival on Monday, citing logistical challenges. Top deals💡 Venture capitalSaudi fintech Abwab.ai raises $4M in seed roundEgypt’s EFG Holding secures $40M EBRD loan to support local SMEsSaudi fintech TalMal closes undisclosed pre-seed funding roundEgypt-founded payments firm Paymob raises $35M pre-Series CSaudi fintech Lendo, Quantic launch $200M SME financing programSaudi proptech Rize secures $50M from Jadwa InvestmentBahraini investment platform Tanami raises to fund expansion in QatarIsrael’s Ibex raises $87M for new Israel-focused secondary fund🌍ExpansionsIndia’s PhonePe gets initial UAE central bank nod for payment licensesQatar’s Estithmar expands into Syria with Shahba Bank stakeQORE enters Egypt’s real estate market with $577M investment plan through 2030💰 Investment & financeQatar raises $3B from debt issuanceSharjah Islamic Bank launches $500M sukukSaudi Arabia’s SHL Finance secures $53.3M credit facilitySaudi-listed MIS signs agreement with Saudi PIF-backed AI firm HUMAINMicrosoft to invest more than $10B into the Middle East by 2030🤝Projects & partnershipsSaudi PIF launches supply chain firm Tawrid Company for financing solutionsEgypt plans $3B pipeline of 16 water, power projectsPakistan, Saudi Arabia sign visa-exemption agreement on UN General Assembly sidelinesSaudi launches first EV firm Ceer with two modelsMETRA Developments launches Liwan Residence in West CairoQatar Investment Authority, JP Morgan Asset Management plan $20B partnershipNvidia establishes Israeli group focused on AI for medicine, science™️MiscEgypt’s Kahira Pharmaceuticals posts 24.5% higher profits in FY25/26
smzali@al-moni…
Wed, 09/23/2026 - 15:02



Jack Dutton


A Kish Air Airlines McDonnell Douglas MD-82 passenger aircraft prepares for landing at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport on June 20, 2026.

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images


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