13382, which targets weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferators and their supporters.OPERATION ECONOMIC OUTCAST IS ISOLATING THE IRANIAN REGIMEAnnounced by Secretary Bessent on August 24, 2026, dubbed Economic D-Day, Operation Economic Outcast is severing the remaining economic lifelines that sustain the Iranian regime. Treasury has mapped the networks, facilitators, and financial channels that Iran uses to smuggle oil, evade sanctions, and fund terror. Working with partners across the U.S. government, the European Union, United Kingdom, Gulf partners, and others, Treasury is targeting any source of the regime’s illicit revenue.Treasury warned that any entity facilitating money laundering or sanctions evasion on behalf of Iran risks being cut off from the U.S. financial system. It also expands secondary sanctions exposure for those who continue doing business with the Iranian regime and will accelerate the pace of U.S. enforcement. More information on Operation Economic Outcast is available here.IRANIAN AIRLINESIran’s commercial airlines have long supported the Iranian regime’s destabilizing activities, with the IRGC using ostensibly private airlines, such as Mahan Air, for the procurement and transport of weapons and the ferrying of personnel. On August 24, 2026, Economic D-Day, Treasury issued determinations against critical sectors––including aviation––that the Iranian regime uses to try to prop up its failing economy. Today, OFAC is announcing its inaugural designations of Iranian airlines pursuant to this determination. OFAC is designating the following 27 Iranian airlines pursuant to E.O. 13902 for operating in the aviation sector of the Iranian economy:Air ShirazAsa Jet AirlineAta Airlines CompanyAtlas Aviation GroupAva AirlinesChabahar Airlines CompanyErwan Airline CompanyFly Kish AirlinesFly Persia AirlinesIran Air TourIran Aseman AirlinesJsky AirlinesKish AirlinesKarun Airlines CompanyLad AirwaysMehr AirwaysNasim AirPars Oghyanous Kish CompanyQeshm AirRaimon AirwaysSaha AirlinesSepehran AirlinesSoroush AirTaban AirlinesToos AirlinesVaresh AirlinesZagros AirlinesCOMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT PROCUREMENTAs identified in past OFAC advisories, Iran has long engaged in deceptive practices with respect to aviation, to include the use of front companies and other pass-through entities in third countries to obfuscate the ultimate Iranian end-user of U.S.-origin aircraft and aviation-related materials. The civil aviation industry should be alert to deceptive practices used by some Iranian persons, designated airlines, and their agents or affiliates to acquire U.S.-origin aircraft or related goods, technology, or services subject to U.S. jurisdiction in violation of U.S. sanctions.Today’s FinCEN Alert underscores these risks for financial institutions, as well, highlighting several key red flag indicators to help them detect, prevent, and report potentially suspicious activity involving Iran’s efforts to procure aircraft and aircraft parts.In summer 2026, Mahan Air received at least three B-777 aircraft that were diverted through the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. UAE-based ECT Aviation Support LLC (ECT Aviation Support UAE) and Türkiye-based Sky Phoenix Hava Yollari Tasimaciligi Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Sky Phoenix) served as intermediaries in the scheme to transfer U.S.‑origin aircraft to Mahan Air. Each aircraft originated from a retired fleet before passing through ECT Aviation Support UAE, where they received temporary registrations. The transfer route closely mirrored previous sanctions evasion operations for Mahan Air.UAE-based Egyptian national Ibrahim Ali Mohamed Mohamed Mahran (Mahran) is the chief executive officer, managing director, founder, and owner of ECT Aviation Support UAE. United Kingdom (UK)-based ECT Aviation Support LTD (ECT Aviation Support UK) is wholly owned by ECT Aviation Support UAE, which is owned by Mahran.
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Treasury Launches Unprecedented Campaign Against Iranian Regime on Economic D-Day
Initiates Operation Economic Outcast **WASHINGTON**—Today, at President Trump’s direction, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has begun Operation Economic Outcast: an unprecedented, whole-of-government, economic campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran…
September 8, 2026 176 1
