US Sanctions Indian, Chinese and Russian Firms Over Iran’s Mahan Air Links as Double Standards Debate Intensifies
The United States has imposed fresh sanctions on a network of companies and individuals across India, China, Russia and Iran, accusing them of enabling Iran’s Mahan Air, an airline long designated by Washington as a key logistical arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Announced on July 30, 2026, by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the action targets general sales agents and facilitators that helped keep the sanctioned carrier operational. The move has reignited long-standing questions about selective enforcement of sanctions, particularly the pressure applied to India and other major buyers of Russian energy while some Western nations continue related imports.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was blunt in his assessment. “Those who provide financial services, logistics, or commercial support to the IRGC or Mahan Air are helping sustain a terrorist enterprise,” he said. “Treasury will continue to identify them, expose them, and cut them off from the U.S. financial system.” The designations freeze any US-linked assets of the listed parties and broadly prohibit transactions involving them by US persons or through the US financial system. They also raise secondary sanctions risks for any foreign company that continues dealing with the designated entities.
The Designated Network
Six entities and individuals were added to the Specially Designated Nationals list. In India, the target is Skiez Travels and Logistics Private Limited, a company with offices in Srinagar and New Delhi. According to its own website, Skiez has served as Mahan Air’s general sales agent in India since 2020, handling ticketing, cargo and customer services. The firm was incorporated in November 2020. US authorities described it as providing commercial support that helped the airline maintain a local presence.
In China, OFAC designated Shanghai Wings International Logistics Co, which it said acted as a general sales agent and coordinated electronics shipments from China to Iran. Its managing director, Tang Xin (also known as Mike Tang), was individually listed. Tang is also executive director and 50 percent owner of Shanghai Elite International Travel Co, another firm representing Mahan Air in China; that company was designated for acting on his behalf. In Russia, Air Cargo Pro Limited was sanctioned for serving as Mahan Air’s general sales agent. Finally, Iran-based DadeNegar Startup Studio was designated as an IRGC-affiliated front company that allegedly supported military targeting by soliciting locations of American and Israeli equipment and receiving strike requests.
Mahan Air itself has been under US sanctions since October 2011 for providing financial, material and technological support to the IRGC-Qods Force. Washington has repeatedly accused the airline of transporting IRGC personnel for military training, moving weapons and unmanned aerial vehicle systems, and facilitating operations linked to groups such as Hezbollah. European countries have also restricted the carrier at various points, and the European Union later sanctioned it over alleged transfers of weaponry related to the Russia-Ukraine war. Despite presenting itself as a civilian airline, the United States maintains that Mahan Air functions as a critical conduit for the IRGC’s global movements of personnel, weapons and equipment.
Broader Pressure Campaign
The latest designations form part of a wider US effort to squeeze Iran’s military and economic networks amid ongoing tensions. They also sit alongside a bipartisan Senate bill—the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026—that advanced with strong support. That legislation would give the president authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the top five buyers of Russian oil and gas. India and China consistently rank among the largest purchasers of discounted Russian crude. The bill also extends Iran-related sanctions authorities. President Donald Trump has publicly urged lawmakers to strengthen the measure by adding broader tariff powers related to Iran, arguing it would make the legislation more effective.
India has been the second-largest buyer of Russian crude after China in recent years, a shift that accelerated after Western sanctions on Moscow following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. New Delhi has defended the purchases as driven by price and energy security needs, noting that earlier Western encouragement helped stabilise global markets. The potential for new US tariffs on Indian goods tied to these imports has already strained aspects of the bilateral relationship and complicated ongoing trade discussions.
The Double Standards Argument
The sanctions on Skiez Travels and the parallel tariff threats have revived accusations of double standards. Indian officials and commentators have previously pointed out that European countries continue to import Russian liquefied natural gas and refined products linked to Russian crude, often under exemptions or lower levels of scrutiny. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has argued in the past that Western criticism of India’s energy choices lacks consistency, noting that the United States itself had earlier signalled that buying Russian oil would help stabilise markets. Critics of the US approach contend that secondary pressure falls more heavily on non-Western partners while loopholes remain for allies.
Supporters of the measures counter that the actions target specific facilitators of sanctioned activity rather than entire countries, and that Mahan Air’s documented role in supporting the IRGC justifies disruption of its commercial network. They argue that allowing general sales agents to operate freely undermines the effectiveness of existing sanctions. From Washington’s perspective, the designations are a precise tool to raise the cost of supporting Iran’s military logistics without necessarily imposing blanket measures.
For Indian businesses, the practical impact is immediate and cautionary. Any firm designated by OFAC faces isolation from the US dollar system and heightened compliance risks for banks and counterparties worldwide. Skiez Travels had not issued a public response in the immediate aftermath of the announcement. Companies dealing with Iranian or Russian entities must now weigh the secondary sanctions exposure carefully, even when the underlying commercial activity appears routine.
Implications and Outlook
The July 30 actions underscore how secondary sanctions have become a preferred instrument of US economic statecraft. By targeting intermediaries in India, China and Russia, Washington aims to degrade the operational reach of Mahan Air and, by extension, the IRGC. Whether the designations meaningfully disrupt Iran’s logistics networks will depend on the willingness of third-country companies to sever ties and the ability of the targeted firms to find alternative arrangements outside the formal financial system.
For India, the episode adds another layer of complexity to its balancing act between strategic autonomy, energy security and relations with the United States. New Delhi has consistently sought to diversify suppliers and reduce vulnerability to external pressure, yet discounted Russian oil has delivered tangible fiscal and inflation benefits. The simultaneous pressure on Russian energy purchases and Iranian commercial links illustrates the tightening web of US secondary measures.
As the Russia-Iran sanctions legislation moves forward and US-Iran tensions persist, further designations and tariff decisions remain likely. The debate over consistency—whether the United States applies the same standards to partners and rivals—will continue to shape how these measures are received in New Delhi, Beijing and elsewhere. For now, the message from Washington is clear: commercial support for Mahan Air carries consequences, and the network of facilitators is under active scrutiny.
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