Danny Citrinowicz

Despite being subjected to one of the harshest sanctions regimes in the world, Iran has succeeded in building a sophisticated, law-evading mechanism to support its aviation industry, which reflects the broader principles of the shadow economy it has developed. This article maps the operational architecture of that mechanism, based on using front and shell companies in countries with little transparency, layered ownership registries, bursts of activity designed to complete transfers within short timeframes, and flight-path planning that includes fictitious emergency landings to allow aircraft to quietly enter Iran. The article describes how Iran’s aviation sector—significantly harmed by sanctions—has shifted from a civilian transportation tool to a core component of the regime’s economic and security strategy, enabling it to continue functioning, finance its regional proxies, and project resilience in the face of international pressure. The aviation industry represents only one link in a much larger apparatus designed to evade sanctions in the trade of oil, gold, and dual-use technologies; yet the aviation sector clearly demonstrates the method: a sophisticated integration of state, market, and underground networks that operate in regulatory gray zones and disrupt efforts to globally enforce the sanctions.

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