Iranian Airline Flights to UAE Canceled Amid U.S. Aviation Sanctions

All flights by Iranian airlines to the United Arab Emirates were canceled from midnight Tehran time, Iranian media reported on Thursday, linking the halt to U.S. sanctions. A passenger said an Iran Airtour flight from Tehran to Dubai was canceled shortly before its scheduled morning departure. Majid Akhavan, spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, said a Tehran-to-Dushanbe flight had to return to Tehran after Turkmenistan refused Iranian airlines transit through its airspace. Iranian flights to Muscat in Oman had already been canceled. On September 8 the U.S. Treasury sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines, saying the regime uses its aviation sector to move weapons, personnel and illicit cargo.