US Treasury Chief Says All Iranian Airlines to Be Shut Down by September 23

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that every Iranian airline will be shut down worldwide by September 23, describing the measure as part of an intensified pressure campaign against Tehran.

Speaking in a broadcast interview in New York City, Bessent said the step would be enforced by targeting anyone who keeps the carriers flying. Under the plan, he said, entities that provide fuel or landing services to Iranian aircraft, or sell tickets for them, risk being cut off from the dollar system.

"On September 23rd, all the Iranian airlines, all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world," he said, adding that the approach rests on denying ground services and access to global finance rather than on aircraft alone.

Bessent said Washington had identified what he called enablers of Iranian aviation and financial activity around the world, without naming them. He also pointed to recent additions to Treasury's sanctions toolkit, saying five new authorities granted about a month ago had been put to use against the Iranian government in areas including aviation, maritime trade, crypto and gold.

He linked the latest measures to sanctions authorities that he said were strengthened after the September 11 attacks. Asked how long the pressure would take to produce results, he declined to give a timeline, saying it could be a week, a month or six months, but that Iran was being squeezed more than at any previous point.

Bessent also said several international banks had been sanctioned for allegedly channelling money to Tehran. He said the second-largest bank in Egypt, through its Dubai branch, had moved more than $1.8 billion to the government, and that the institution would be closed down. A Turkish bank he described as roughly the 30th largest in the country would face the same step, he said, while the external branches of Russia's second-largest bank were also being closed over similar activity.