US President Donald Trump’s threat to sanction any airport that services Iranian carriers seems not to have deterred China, with flight data showing an Iranian-owned Mahan Air flight from Tehran landing in China's Guangzhou.
Flight tracking data by FlightRadar24 showed Flight IRM093 landed in Guangzhou at 4.39 pm local time on September 23, despite it not being listed on the official website of Guangzhou Baiyun Airport.
Soon after, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman cleared the air on whether China would accept Iranian flights. Guo Jiakun stressed Beijing's principled position against unilateral sanctions against Tehran, stating China opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that are not based on international law and have not been authorised by the United Nations Security Council.
This came a day after Washington threatened to “shut down” Tehran’s carriers and punish anyone doing business with them. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned this week that any countries which provided Iranian planes with “landing services” would be “knocked out of the dollar system”, but did not give further details.
Flightradar24 also showed at least six flights departing Iran for destinations including Bangkok, Phuket, Shanghai and Kabul after the restrictions took effect.
Some countries did go ahead and suspend flights from Iran. Iraq ordered its civil aviation authority to suspend Iranian flights to Baghdad airport starting Wednesday. However, the Iraqi government is discussing diverting Iranian Airways
flights from Baghdad to Najaf airport, two sources familiar with
the matter said.
Local media reports quoted officials at Najaf Ashraf International Airport, who claimed flights to Iran will continue. Muthanna Al-Talqani, Deputy Director of Public Relations at Najaf Ashraf International Airport, emphasised on Wednesday that flights to various destinations, especially round-trip flights to Iran, are operating according to the announced schedules.
Flights to and from Oman and Azerbaijan have also been stopped. To the dismay of Tehran, Turkish Airlines said it had halted all flights to Iran until at least March 2027. Turkey has long been one of the most accessible foreign destinations for Iranians.
