In a statement released on Monday, the council condemned sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector, adding that restricting Iran’s access to services, equipment, spare parts, and technical capabilities required for civil aviation is a matter of serious concern from the perspectives of human rights, international law, and the principles governing the international civil aviation system.
The full text of the statement is as follows:
The High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the recent action by the Government of the United States of America to intensify and expand sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s aviation industry, as well as to exert pressure on third-country companies and individuals with the aim of restricting Iran’s access to the services, equipment, spare parts, and technical capabilities required for civil aviation. It considers such measures to be a matter of serious concern from the perspectives of human rights, international law, and the principles governing the international civil aviation system.
On 8 September 2026, the United States Department of the Treasury announced that it had targeted a number of individuals, companies, and networks associated with the aviation sector of the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of its sanctions measures. According to the U.S. side, the scope of this action also encompasses foreign individuals and intermediaries, as well as networks associated with the procurement of aircraft and the provision of technology and services required by Iran’s aviation industry.
The High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran emphasizes that civil aviation is not merely an economic or commercial activity; rather, it is a sector directly connected with the safety, health, and lives of human beings. The continued safety of flight operations requires regular and reliable access to spare parts, engines, navigation and communication equipment, maintenance and repair services, technical support, and other specialized necessities. Imposing restrictions on this supply and support chain may therefore have consequences extending beyond commercial and economic relations.
The international legal framework governing civil aviation is likewise founded upon the need for the safe and orderly development of international air transport and cooperation among States. The 1944 Chicago Convention, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party, provides in Article 44, inter alia, that the objectives of the International Civil Aviation Organization include fostering the safe and orderly development of international civil aviation, meeting the needs of the peoples of the world for safe, regular, efficient, and economical air transport, and preventing discrimination between Contracting States. From this perspective, measures whose practical effects result in restricting a Member State’s access to equipment, spare parts, and services essential to maintaining aviation safety warrant consideration in light of the objectives and obligations arising from the international legal framework governing civil aviation.
The issue of the impact of sanctions on aviation safety in Iran is not without precedent. In the official document A36-WP/275, submitted within the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the effects of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s civil aviation sector and the consequences of restrictions on access to essential safety-related parts and services were examined. The document also refers to the ICAO mission to Iran in 2005 and to its assessment of the impact of economic sanctions on aviation safety. This precedent demonstrates that the link between sanctions-related restrictions and aviation safety is an issue that has previously received attention within the specialized institutional framework of the United Nations.
Within this framework, reference should also be made to the Order on Provisional Measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 3 October 2018 in the case concerning Alleged Violations of the 1955 Treaty of Amity, Economic Relations, and Consular Rights (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America).
In that Order, the Court called upon the United States to remove obstacles arising from the measures announced on 8 May 2018 to the free exportation to Iran of goods and services in three areas: (1) medicines and medical devices; (2) foodstuffs and agricultural products; and (3) spare parts, equipment, and associated services—including warranty, maintenance, and inspection services—necessary for the safety of civil aviation. The Court expressly stated that such sanctions had the “potential to endanger the safety of civil aviation in Iran and the lives of its users.” This provisional-measures Order, issued pursuant to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and, in accordance with the Court’s jurisprudence, having binding effect, reflects the Court’s preliminary recognition that sanctions-related restrictions affecting civil aviation, given their direct connection with safety and human life, constitute a matter capable of being examined within the framework of international obligations.
From a human rights perspective, the potential consequences of such measures cannot be disregarded. The right to life, as recognized in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is a fundamental human right, while the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health is recognized in Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Where economic and sanctions-related restrictions extend to areas directly connected with the safety of transportation and the protection of human life and health, assessing the human rights impact of such measures becomes a matter of necessity from a human rights perspective.
In this regard, Ms. Alena Douhan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of the Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, in her report on the impact of such measures on the right to health, has expressed concern about the consequences of unilateral restrictions on access to essential goods and services and on the effective enjoyment of human rights. The human rights mechanisms of the United Nations have also previously raised concerns, in connection with the effects of U.S. sanctions against Iran, regarding the impact of such measures on the right to health and the right to life.
It is self-evident that the exercise of States’ domestic jurisdiction in the areas of foreign and economic policy is, within the framework of international law, a complex matter subject to the specific circumstances and obligations of each State. Nevertheless, when the effects of a domestic decision extend beyond the territory of the sanctioning State, exposing companies and individuals in third countries to pressure and restrictions, while at the same time extending to an area directly connected with flight safety and fundamental human rights, the need to examine such measures within the framework of international rules and obligations becomes all the more evident.
The High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran maintains that political differences and considerations among States should not come at the expense of weakening aviation safety standards, restricting people’s access to safe air transportation, or increasing risks that directly threaten human life and health. Civil aviation and flight safety should not be used as instruments of political pressure, and the humanitarian character of international law requires that the human consequences of economic and sanctions-related measures be given serious consideration.
