WASHINGTON DC: The US Treasury placed two United Arab Emirates-based companies on its sanctions blacklist Wednesday for their support of already-sanctioned Iran's Mahan Air. UAE-based Parthia Cargo and Delta Parts Supply FZC "have provided key parts and logistics services for Mahan Air," the Treasury said.
Mahan, one of Iran's leading carriers, has been blacklisted under US counterterrorism regulations for its close relationship with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, which Washington says carries out terror activities in the Middle East.
Mahan Air especially has been used by the revolutionary Guards to support the regimes of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, according to the Treasury. "The Iranian regime uses Mahan Air as a tool to spread its destabilizing agenda around the world, including to the corrupt regimes in Syria and Venezuela, as well as terrorist groups throughout the Middle East. The United States will continue to take action against those supporting this airline," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement.
In the same action the Treasury also placed sanctions on UAE-based Iranian national Amin Mahdavi, who the Treasury said either owns or controls Parthia Cargo.