Bessent: All Iranian Airlines to Be Shut Down Worldwide on Sept. 23

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iranian airlines will effectively be locked out of international travel starting Wednesday, as the US threatens any foreign company still servicing them with secondary sanctions. Washington is threatening foreign companies with secondary sanctions if they continue servicing the country’s carriers.

What Bessent said

On September 23, all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world, Bessent told CNBC in an interview. The mechanism is simple: cut off the vendors, not just the airlines.

If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system, Bessent said. The warning is aimed not just at the airlines themselves, but at the airports, fuel suppliers, ticketing companies and other businesses they rely on to operate abroad.

Escalation of the sanctions campaign

The statements come roughly two weeks after the US Department of the Treasury added 27 Iranian airlines to its sanctions list. Washington accused the carriers of supporting Iran’s government and military activities, including the movement of weapons, personnel and illicit cargo.

Bessent further stated that his agency has sanctioned three banks, including the second largest bank in Egypt, which funneled more than $1.8 billion to Tehran. Trump and Bessent announced the start of Operation Economic Outcast last month. The operation involves a series of moves aimed at weakening the Iranian regime’s finances to pressure it into negotiations to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

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The China angle

Bessent’s comments came a day after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. China is one of Iran’s most important economic partners and diplomatic backers, making Beijing’s cooperation potentially significant to Washington’s efforts to financially isolate Tehran.

Bessent said Chinese officials had been very engaged in the US pressure campaign. Any signal from the Thursday summit on Iran enforcement is a live tape-mover for energy.

Market backdrop

The United States and Iran have been at war since late February, when US-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader and senior military officials at the start of a broad offensive. Tehran countered by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for energy transit, causing global oil prices to surge as the conflict spread in the Middle East.

At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate is up 0.41% on the day at $92.18. Crude remains the cleanest read on any escalation from here.

Options market and stocks to watch

Watch for oil and defense names to trade off further enforcement headlines and any Strait of Hormuz commentary:

XOM and CVX: watch for continued sensitivity to WTI as sanctions pressure tightens supply narratives.

USO: watch for flow around the crude ETF as traders position for Hormuz and enforcement risk.

LMT and RTX: watch defense contractors on any escalation tied to the ongoing US-Iran conflict.

For more on macro, geopolitics, and sanctions moves, see other news from Unusual Whales.

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