The U.S. Sanctions a Thai Company Linked to Mahan Air

On Friday, September 23, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it has sanctioned a Thai airline company due to its connection with Mahan Air. The headquarters of 'My Aviation Company Limited' is located in Bangkok, Thailand. Steven Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, stated that Mahan Air continues its weekly flights to Syria while millions of people in Idlib province face an immediate threat from attacks by the criminal regime of Bashar al-Assad and its supporters, namely Russia and Iran. The U.S. Treasury Secretary said that Mahan Air provides the Assad regime with the personnel, services, and equipment it needs and fuels terrorist activities in the region. He added that the sanctioning of this Thai company would prevent Mahan Air from receiving services from it. Mnuchin emphasized that this Thai company had ignored multiple warnings from the United States, which had previously been publicly communicated to the Thai government to cut its ties with Mahan Air. The U.S. Treasury Secretary stated that the sanction of this Thai company serves as a warning from the United States, as this action indicates that the U.S. intends to ensure that the aviation industry does not provide any services to this airline linked to terrorism. The U.S. Treasury Department also announced on July 9 that it had sanctioned a tourism and travel company based in Malaysia for providing services to Mahan Air. Mahan's tourism and services company acted as a sales agent for Mahan Airlines in Malaysia. Previously, officials from the Islamic Republic of Iran had denied allegations of transferring weapons for Hezbollah in Lebanon using passenger planes. The U.S. had placed Mahan Air on its sanctions list in 2011, accusing it of providing services to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and transferring personnel and weapons to Lebanon and Syria.