Heightened US aviation sanctions are pushing passengers toward crowded land crossings as foreign airports stop servicing Iranian commercial flights to avoid secondary penalties from Washington.
The disruption highlights severe structural problems across Middle East transit networks.
The US Treasury Department's targeted measures risk penalizing international ground handling, ticketing, and fueling companies that support Iranian airlines.
This makes commercial flights increasingly unpredictable across regional routes, including Oman, Iraq, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
Washington maintains that Iranian commercial airlines transport military personnel and assets alongside civilian passengers.
Mahan Air specifically faces accusations of aiding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, supported by past statements from former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif regarding military transport during the Syrian conflict.
Regulatory pressure intensified after US authorities suspended the J-1 general license, which previously permitted select non-Iranian aircraft short stays in Iran under defined foreign control parameters.
Because most global airliners incorporate US-manufactured components, service providers face heightened legal exposure when handling flights connected to Iranian airspace.
Operational challenges are further compounded by internal deficiencies within Iran's aging civil aviation sector.
Transport Minister Farzaneh Sadegh previously disclosed that select domestic flights function without radar guidance, placing full navigational responsibility onto flight crews operating a severely constrained fleet.
Economic analysts note that while the aviation sector represents a modest share of national output, the loss of air connections imposes severe logistical delays on specialized personnel, students, and medical patients forced to seek indirect transit through neighboring nations.
Alireza Salavati, political economy analyst and managing director of the London-based Middle East Analytica, said Iran's aviation sector is small by regional standards.
He noted that unlike Turkey or the UAE, the country is not a major international hub, and its commercial fleet is limited.
Officials said in July that roughly 150 aircraft were in the operational pool, with only about half of them operational at any given time.
Disruptions in commercial flight schedules have forced passengers to adjust travel itineraries through overland border posts, significantly elevating total transportation and accommodation expenses.
Salavati added that the damage is more apparent in connectivity.
For a heavily sanctioned economy, flights still matter for business, the diaspora, students, specialist workers and medical treatment abroad.
For patients, a once-direct journey can become a detour through a third country, with extra travel, accommodation and sometimes visa costs.
Time can matter as much as money, he said.
With air cargo services for essential medical supplies constrained alongside maritime trade complications around the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's international commerce remains increasingly reliant on land routes and transit arrangements with adjacent states.
