How will Iran’s UN delegation get home? Bessent taunts Tehran over flight sanctions
US aviation squeeze disrupts Iranian flights, but Pezeshkian may already have route home
Dubai: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has raised an awkward question for Iran’s delegation attending the UN General Assembly in New York: How are they going to get home?
“I’m not sure how the Iranian representatives at the UN are going to get home,” Bessent told Fox News on Wednesday as sweeping US pressure disrupted Iran’s international air links.
The timing gives his remark an added edge.
President Masoud Pezeshkian and his delegation arrived in New York on Tuesday for a five-day visit and are scheduled to return to Tehran on Saturday.
By then, the latest US aviation restrictions will have been in force for three days.
Washington sanctioned Iran’s remaining active airlines on September 8 under what the Treasury calls “Operation Economic Outcast”, targeting 27 carriers and warning companies involved in supporting Iran’s aviation sector that they could also face US action.
A wind-down period expired on Wednesday, September 23, increasing the pressure on airports and companies providing Iranian carriers with services including fuel, ground handling and ticketing.
Disruption is real
Bessent claimed the measures had already shut down more than 80% to 90% of Iran’s external flights.
“We are squeezing the Iranians like they’ve never seen,” he said.
The disruption is real, although Iran has not been completely cut off.
Flights to Azerbaijan were suspended, while Iranian authorities said services to Baghdad and Muscat had been cancelled. Turkish Airlines has also halted its flights to Iran until at least March 2027.
But some Iranian aircraft continued flying internationally after Wednesday’s deadline.
Flight-tracking data cited by Bloomberg showed at least six departures from Iran for destinations including Bangkok, Phuket, Shanghai and Kabul after the restrictions took effect.
And Pezeshkian may have another option.
He did not travel to New York aboard a regular scheduled Iranian passenger flight.
The Iranian president flew aboard an Airbus A340 operated by Ashianeh, a little-known Iranian airline that does not operate scheduled passenger services or sell tickets and did not appear to be under US or European Union sanctions when Pezeshkian departed Tehran. It remains unclear whether the aircraft will face any restrictions on refuelling or other services for the delegation’s scheduled return on Saturday.
Flight-tracking information showed the aircraft stopping in Algiers, apparently to refuel, on its journey to New York.
That means Bessent’s question should not be taken literally as evidence that the Iranian delegation is stranded.
Whether the same aircraft will carry Pezeshkian back to Tehran on Saturday has not been publicly confirmed. But its use on the outbound journey illustrates one of the difficulties Washington faces in trying to isolate Iran’s aviation sector completely.
For now, Pezeshkian still has meetings to complete in New York.
And when Saturday comes, Washington may be watching not only whether he leaves — but how.
