Tehran will attack the airports of neighboring countries that cooperate with US sanctions against Iranian airlines, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Wednesday.
“If a country cooperates with or embarks on adventures with the United States, its airports will no longer be able to operate flights,” he told Iranian state television.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday said all Iranian airlines would be forced to stop operating by Wednesday, while countries allowing air services that enabled the continued flights would face secondary sanctions.
Georgia and Azerbaijan both said flights from Iranian airlines had been suspended.
Flights to Baghdad, Muscat, and Qatar were halted, a travel agent in Tehran told Agence France-Presse.
Turkish Airlines, AJet, and Pegasus have canceled flights to and from Iran, although Iranian airlines have been allowed to continue operating between Turkey and Iran.
Tehran flights continue to various destinations despite sanctions
A flight operated by the sanctioned Mahan Air flew from Tehran to Guangzhou, China, after the Wednesday deadline came into effect, with additional flights listed to Bangkok, Phuket, Shanghai, and Kabul, according to data published by FlightRadar24.
Despite Iran’s threat, indicating a shift in its tactics to target the states themselves and not just the American assets they host, Bahraini political analyst Ahmed Alkhuzaie told The Jerusalem Post he suspected public opinion in regional states had not changed significantly.
Although Iran’s threats would be “taken seriously,” countries “won’t comply” with the regime, he said.
Iran would likely demonstrate a show of force against Bahrain or Kuwait before turning its attention to Gulf states to try to force compliance, Alkhuzaie said.