US Treasury imposes sanctions on Mahan Air over terrorist claims

In a statement to news agency Bloomberg, the US Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, David Cohen, said Mahan Air is “yet another facet of the IRGC’s extensive infiltration of Iran’s commercial sector to facilitate its support for terrorism.”

Under the designation, U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in commercial or financial transactions with Mahan Air, and any assets it may hold under US jurisdiction are frozen, the Treasury release said.

The Treasury claimed the Tehran-based airline provides transportation, funds transfers and personnel travel services to the Qods Force, the foreign operations unit of the IRGC, Bloomberg reported.

In a list of accusations, the US Treasury said Mahan Air transported Qods Force personnel to Syria for military training as well as facilitating “covert travel” by suspected Qods Force officers. It said Mahan Air crews also facilitated arms shipments and money transfers to evade trade restrictions, as well as providing transportation to Hezbollah, the Shiite Muslim group in Lebanon, which the US classifies as a terrorist organisation. The Treasury said Mahan Air has omitted from cargo manifests “secret weapons shipments” for Hezbollah.