How Iran’s Airlines Survive Sanctions

Video Description

Iran’s airlines are flying aircraft the rest of the world retired decades ago. Cut off from Boeing and Airbus for nearly half a century, engineers improvise with scavenged parts, black-market supply chains, and machines kept alive long past their limits. This is the hidden world of aviation under sanctions — and how it created a zombie fleet still carrying passengers today. Follow more stories on Instagram and TikTok: @TheSkyDigest References: ¹ Wikipedia. List of Iranian aviation accidents and incidents. Accessed Aug 2025. ² Reuters. “Black boxes recovered from crashed Iranian plane.” July 2009. ³ The Guardian. “168 feared dead in Iran plane crash.” July 2009. ⁴ Al Jazeera. “Are sanctions behind Iran’s aviation crisis?” May 2024. ⁵ Newsweek. “Planes cannibalized for parts at Iran airport.” Jan 2022. ⁶ Simple Flying. “How Iran keeps its airline fleet flying through sanctions.” Feb 2025. ⁷ American Iranian Council. Industry Spotlight: Airlines. 2024. ⁸ AirlineGeeks. “Last Boeing 747SP flown to retirement in Iran.” May 2018. ⁹ Airbus. “Iran Air and Airbus seal historic aircraft order.” Dec 2016; Axios. “Boeing, Airbus to lose $40B after sanctions.” May 2018. ¹⁰ Al Jazeera. “A simple visual guide to Iran and its people.” June 2025. ¹¹ HiPersia Travel. “Train from Tehran to Mashhad.” 2024; OrientTrips. Mashhad Travel Guide. ¹² Airline timetables. Tehran–Mashhad block time ~1h30m. ¹³ Avionics International. “How Many Planes Will Iran Need?” Feb 2016; Simple Flying. Recap 2019–2025. ¹⁴ Wikipedia. Iran Air European operations and EU restrictions. Accessed 2025. ¹⁵ CAPA. “Lifting of sanctions to spur Iran travel.” Aug 2015. ¹⁶ WHO EMRO. “Road traffic injuries in Iran.” 2023; PMC study. 2024. ¹⁷ Airbus & Axios as in 9. ¹⁸ Reuters. “Iran sanctions deal sparks hunt for vintage plane parts.” Nov 2013. ¹⁹ American Iranian Council. Fleet age data, 2024; Simple Flying. Global fleet averages. ²⁰ Axios. “Boeing, Airbus to lose nearly $40B after sanctions.” May 2018. ²¹ Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Iran Air Flight 655.” Updated 2025. ²² Encyclopaedia Britannica. U.S. response to Flight 655 incident. 2025. ²³ Encyclopaedia Britannica. Compensation for Flight 655 victims; Wikipedia/U.S. Navy records. ²⁴ U.S. DOJ. “Export Aircraft Components to Iran.” Oct 2020; Iran Watch. Charging docs. ²⁵ BIS. Don’t Let This Happen to You (enforcement digest); Reuters reporting on sanctions supply chains. ²⁶ IRNA (via Israel Hayom/Times of Israel). 170 aircraft inactive for lack of parts. 2024. ²⁷ Iran transport ministry estimates, 2022–2024 press reports. ²⁸ ch-aviation. “Mahan Air recipient of two ex-Lufthansa A340-300s.” 2013; Planespotters.net. Fleet data.