Iranian commercial jet lands in China despite US sanctions threat
An Iranian Airbus A340 landed in southern China, defying US warnings of sanctions against airlines dealing with Iran, according to AFP and flight tracking data.
Key Takeaways
AIAFP has reported that an Iranian commercial aircraft landed in China despite US threats of sanctions.
According to the website FlightRadar24, an Airbus A340 that departed from Tehran landed at around 16:40 (8:40 GMT) in Guangzhou, southern China. This comes as a new round of tightened US sanctions on Iran's aviation sector took effect on Wednesday, following Washington's pledge to halt all Iranian airlines and penalize any entity that deals with them.
China announced yesterday its opposition to what it described as "illegal" US sanctions against Iranian airlines, a day after the US Treasury Secretary warned that Iranian carriers would soon cease operations under pressure from US measures. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gao Jia Kun stated, "China consistently opposes illegal unilateral sanctions that do not comply with international law and lack approval from the UN Security Council."
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant said all Iranian airlines would cease operations as of September 23. In an interview with CNBC, he explained, "How will we do this? If these planes land, they will not be allowed to refuel, receive landing services, or sell tickets. Any violator will be excluded from the dollar-based financial system."