Iranian flight lands in China despite US sanctions threat: Tracker

BEIJING – A Mahan Air commercial flight from Tehran landed in southern China, a tracking data website said on Sept 23, the day Washington had 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.Flight IRM093 landed in Guangzhou at 4.39pm local time on Sept 23, according to the tracking website FlightRadar24.The flight was not listed on the official website of Guangzhou Baiyun airport, which was the location shown as the landing site of the Mahan plane.Bessent told a CNBC interview on Sept 21 that on Sept 23 “all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world”, as the war launched by the United States and Israel nears the seven-month mark.“If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” he added.When AFP staff visited the Mahan Air office in Shanghai on the morning of Sept 23, staff said they had received no notice about any flights cancelled, and tickets for the upcoming week were being sold as normal.The US Treasury did not reply to an AFP query asking for clarification.Iranian airlines fly regular direct routes into several Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. AFP