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Teresa Elena Frontado

The United States sanctioned two China-based companies and a Chinese executive on Thursday over their alleged support for Iran’s Mahan Air, which Washington described as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ “airline of choice” for transporting weapons, military personnel and equipment.
The action marked the second consecutive day that Washington targeted mainland China- or Hong Kong-linked businesses accused of supporting Tehran, broadening its latest pressure campaign from Iranian oil shipments to aviation, travel and cargo services.
The US Treasury Department said Shanghai Wings International Logistics Co served as a general sales agent for Mahan Air and had coordinated the transportation of electronics from China to Iran.
It also sanctioned the company’s managing director, Tang Xin, who was accused of coordinating travel for the Iranian carrier.
Tang is also the executive director and 50 per cent owner of Shanghai Elite International Travel Co, which represents Mahan Air in China, according to Treasury. The travel company was designated because of its ownership and links to Tang.
The sanctions freeze any assets the designated parties hold in the United States or under US control and generally bar Americans from doing business with them. Foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions on their behalf could also face secondary sanctions.


Treasury did not identify the electronics allegedly transported by Shanghai Wings, their recipients or whether they included military or dual-use goods. It also did not provide evidence supporting the allegations in its announcement.
The Treasury and State departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment. SCMP also sought comment from the Chinese embassy in Washington, Shanghai Wings and Shanghai Elite.
The State Department said in a release that the companies were part of an international network enabling the IRGC and described Mahan Air as its preferred airline for moving “weapons, military personnel, and equipment”.
“The United States calls on the international community, particularly companies and individuals doing business with Mahan Air or any other sanctioned Iranian carrier, to recognise the serious risks raised by continuing such engagement,” department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
Mahan Air presents itself as a civilian carrier, but Washington alleges that it has provided travel services to members of the IRGC’s Quds Force for military training and facilitated Iran’s procurement and transportation of drone systems and weapons.
The US designated the airline in 2011 for providing financial, material and technological support to the Quds Force, the overseas branch of the IRGC.
Mahan Air has nevertheless continued operating connections between Iran and China. The airline resumed select passenger routes to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in April of this year following a suspension of nearly two months, according to Chinese state broadcaster CGTN.
Thursday’s designations were not Washington’s first attempt to sever the airline’s commercial links to China.
In 2020, the Treasury Department sanctioned Shanghai Saint Logistics Limited, accusing it of serving as Mahan Air’s cargo sales agent in Shanghai and handling freight bookings for flights between China and Iran.
At the time, Treasury said it had sanctioned seven general sales agents working for Mahan Air since 2018. The latest designations indicate that Mahan Air continued to have commercial representation in China despite Washington’s earlier efforts to disrupt its network.
A general sales agent represents an airline in a particular market, providing sales and customer services and communicating with freight forwarders and shippers on the carrier’s behalf.

The latest action also targeted Skiez Travels and Logistics Private Limited in India and Air Cargo Pro Limited in Russia, which Treasury accused of serving as Mahan Air sales agents in their respective countries.
Shanghai Wings, Tang Xin, Skiez Travels and Air Cargo Pro were sanctioned under a US counterterrorism order for allegedly providing material support, goods or services to Mahan Air. Shanghai Elite was designated because it is owned or controlled by Tang, according to Treasury.
Treasury separately sanctioned DadeNegar Startup Studio, which it described as an IRGC-affiliated front company that supported Iranian military targeting through a website.
The company allegedly solicited information about the locations of American and Israeli equipment and received requests for strikes against US targets in the Middle East in coordination with the IRGC, Treasury said.
The department did not disclose whether the website had contributed to any successful attacks.
“Those who provide financial services, logistics, or commercial support to the IRGC or Mahan Air are helping sustain a terrorist enterprise,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Thursday’s measures came one day after Treasury sanctioned a shipping network that included several Hong Kong companies whose vessels allegedly transported millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil to China.
Responding to Wednesday’s action, Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Chang told SCMP that China’s cooperation with Iran was “open, transparent, lawful and legitimate” and accused Washington of abusing unilateral sanctions and “long-arm jurisdiction”.
“We urge the US side to stop going after Chinese companies,” Liu said, adding that Beijing would defend their “legitimate and lawful rights and interests”.
The recent measures come amid intensified US economic pressure on Tehran following Iranian attacks against regional states and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington has increasingly focused that pressure on China, the principal destination for Iranian crude oil, imposing repeated sanctions on Chinese refineries, port operators, shipping companies and Hong Kong-based intermediaries accused of helping Tehran evade restrictions.


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Two Shanghai companies and a Chinese executive targeted as Washington expands pressure campaign from Iranian oil to aviation and cargo


Two Shanghai companies and a Chinese executive targeted as Washington expands pressure campaign from Iranian oil to aviation and cargo.


US sanctions Mahan Air’s China network over alleged support for Iran’s IRGC

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Two Shanghai companies and a Chinese executive targeted as Washington expands pressure campaign from Iranian oil to aviation and cargo

Two Shanghai companies and a Chinese executive targeted as Washington expands pressure campaign from Iranian oil to aviation and cargo