Why is Iran threatening regional airports, and what could be the impact?

Iran has threatened neighbouring countries with retaliation if they enforce new United States sanctions designed to stop Iranian airlines from operating internationally, raising the prospect of further disruption to air travel across a region already affected by nearly seven months of the US-Israel war on Iran. This adventure will very soon end in failure,” Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told Iranian state media. The warning came as Iranian carriers cancelled a number of international flights after the US threatened airports and aviation service providers with secondary sanctions if they continued doing business with it.

On Thursday, the all Iranian flights to and from the United Arab Emirates were cancelled, the Iranian Students’ News Agency reported. Azerbaijan and Georgia had on Wednesday confirmed suspending Iranian flights, while flights to Baghdad and Muscat have also been halted. Meanwhile, several connections to Turkiye and China have continued, but many flights to these countries have been cancelled, too.

So, what has Iran said, can it carry out its threats against neighbouring countries, and how could this potentially affect the travel industry in the region? Rezaei warned on Wednesday that Tehran would retaliate against neighbouring countries that cooperate with the US restrictions. Rezaei said Iran would ensure airports in countries stopping Iranian flights “cannot function”.

The warning is part of a broader Iranian attempt to deter countries from participating in Washington’s campaign of economic pressure, which has heightened since the US-Israel war on Iran began on February 28. The immediate trigger to this threat from Rezaei is Washington’s attempt to isolate Iran’s aviation industry. The US Department of the Treasury earlier this month announced sanctions against Iran’s remaining airlines as well as foreign companies and intermediaries accused of helping them operate.

The measures expanded longstanding restrictions on Mahan Air to cover 27 Iranian airlines and also suspended authorisations that had allowed a number of aviation links with Iran. The US accuses Mahan Air of having links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent then warned that airports and companies servicing Iranian aircraft risk being cut off from the US financial system.

He said they could not provide Iranian carriers with fuel or landing services, or sell them tickets, without risking US penalties. Iran has not publicly explained what action it could take to prevent airports in neighbouring countries from functioning, and Rezaei did not specify whether Tehran’s response would be diplomatic, economic or military. Iran cannot legally decide whether an airport in another sovereign country accepts Iranian aircraft.