Turkish Airlines suspends flights to Iran until at least March 2027

Turkish Airlines has pulled the plug on flights to all five of its Iranian destinations, with no resumption planned before March 28, 2027. The move effectively severs one of Iran’s most important remaining connections to global aviation, a consequence of escalating US sanctions and regional instability. The affected routes include Tehran Imam Khomeini, Esfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz, and Tabriz. How it got here The suspensions trace back to late February 2026, when the US-Israel-Iran conflict threw the region’s airspace into chaos. NOTAM restrictions cascaded across Iran and several neighboring countries. Turkish Airlines wasn’t alone in grounding service. Pegasus Airlines, Turkey’s other major carrier, also halted Iranian routes during the same period. On September 8, 2026, the US Treasury launched what it called “Operation Economic Outcast,” imposing sanctions on more than 27 Iranian airlines and associated entities. The operation targeted the financial infrastructure that kept Iranian aviation functioning, threatening secondary sanctions against any foreign entity that continued doing business with the designated companies. Two weeks later, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a...