WASHINGTON, DC – September 24, 2026 (STL.News) Iran has threatened to disrupt airports in neighboring countries that cooperate with a U.S. effort to stop Iranian airlines from operating internationally, introducing another potential avenue for the U.S.-Iran war to spread across the Middle East even as Washington and Tehran resume indirect diplomacy.
Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of IRN’s Supreme National Security Council, issued the warning Wednesday in an interview with Iranian state television.
Reuters independently reported the statement. Rezaei said that if neighboring countries cooperate with the United States by stopping Iranian flights, IRN would ensure that their airports could not function.
The statement represents an escalation in Tehran’s rhetoric because the threatened consequences extend beyond U.S. forces and American interests to infrastructure in other countries if their governments cooperate with Washington.
Based on the latest verified reporting, Iran has not carried out the threatened action. Rezaei’s statement therefore represents a threat of possible retaliation, not evidence that regional airports have been attacked.
He also did not identify individual airports in the Reuters report. Claims that particular airports in Gulf capitals have specifically been threatened should therefore be treated cautiously unless Iranian officials subsequently identify them.
U.S. Targets International Iranian Flights
The confrontation follows a new U.S. effort to isolate Iranian airlines from international aviation services.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that Iranian airlines would be forced to stop operating internationally beginning Sept. 23 through the threat of secondary sanctions against companies providing aviation services to Iranian carriers.
Those sanctions could potentially expose foreign companies servicing Iranian airlines to U.S. penalties.
The pressure has already produced tangible consequences.
Iraq ordered its civil aviation authority to suspend Iranian flights to Baghdad beginning Wednesday after the United States threatened sanctions against airports servicing Iranian carriers, two sources told Reuters.
The Iraqi action is particularly important because it offers a real-world example of the situation Rezaei warned about: a neighboring government restricting Iranian aviation after U.S. sanctions pressure.
Rezaei’s statement raises the stakes for other governments deciding how to respond to Washington’s sanctions campaign.
What remains unclear is exactly what Iran means by ensuring that airports “cannot function.” Reuters’ report does not establish a specific operational plan, military target, or method.
It would therefore be premature to characterize the statement as an announced Iranian attack plan against a particular airport.
Iran and U.S. Resume Indirect Contacts
The airport warning comes as Washington and Tehran have resumed diplomatic contacts at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The first U.S.-Iran shuttle talks in months took place Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner communicated through mediators rather than meeting directly.
The contacts were the first of their kind since an interim agreement intended to end the war collapsed in July.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters Wednesday that Iran and the United States remain far apart over how to end the conflict but said diplomacy should continue.
That distinction is important.
Negotiations have restarted, but no verified peace agreement, comprehensive ceasefire, or resolution of the major disputes separating Washington and Tehran exists.
Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Surrender
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reinforced Tehran’s position Wednesday during an address to the U.N. General Assembly.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not surrender to American pressure while repeatedly leaving the door open to negotiations.
He criticized President Donald Trump’s approach to IRN and said Tehran would not accept negotiations conducted through threats or force.
Reuters reported that the U.S. delegation walked out at the beginning of Pezeshkian’s address.
Pezeshkian’s speech followed Trump’s own address to the General Assembly Tuesday.
Trump called for the economic isolation of Iran and warned of further consequences if Washington and Tehran fail to reach an agreement. He nevertheless predicted that an eventual agreement could be reached.
The competing statements illustrate the conflict’s unusual state.
Both governments are maintaining intense military and economic pressure while simultaneously allowing diplomatic channels to operate.
Iran Offers Path to Reopen Hormuz
One of the most consequential issues under discussion is the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters Tuesday that Tehran could reopen the strait within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade of Iranian ports.
The Iranian official said Tehran’s delegation at the U.N. General Assembly had authority to revive diplomacy and that Iran’s proposal had been transmitted to Washington through mediators on Sept. 16.
No agreement on those terms has been announced.
Hormuz remains one of the most consequential economic components of the conflict because of the enormous volume of energy that normally passes through the waterway.
Before the current conflict began Feb. 28, approximately 20% of the world’s daily crude oil and liquefied natural gas supply moved through the strait, according to Reuters.
Normal commercial shipping remains severely disrupted.
Preliminary Kpler data showed that only two commodity vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, compared with 10 on Sunday.
Before the conflict, about 125 large commercial vessels typically passed through the strait each day.
The Kpler figures do not include vessels that may have crossed with their Automatic Identification System transponders switched off, so they should not be interpreted as a complete count of every ship movement.
Ships Continue to Face Attacks
The security threat to commercial vessels also remains unresolved.
Reuters reported that two commercial vessels were recently struck in separate incidents in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Isle of Man-flagged crude tanker LR Stephanie was hit by an unidentified projectile while entering the waterway Monday, causing minor injuries to two crew members.
The Liberia-flagged LPG tanker Al Maryah had been struck while exiting the strait Sunday.
Both vessels continued without towing assistance.
Most importantly, responsibility for the attacks has not been confirmed.
Maritime intelligence firm Marisks Intelligence told Reuters that neither vessel had appeared on publicly reported Iranian lists of ships considered noncompliant.
The attacks demonstrate why reopening Hormuz involves more than a political declaration. Shipowners, insurers and crews must also determine that vessels can transit the area with an acceptable level of security.
France Pushes International Hormuz Plan
European governments are simultaneously exploring another approach.
France has begun drafting a new U.N. Security Council resolution, in coordination with the United States, that would establish an international mission intended to restore movement through the Strait of Hormuz.
French President Emmanuel Macron discussed possible approaches with Trump in New York.
According to diplomats interviewed by Reuters, the proposed mission would focus on freedom of navigation and commercial shipping rather than offensive action against Iran.
France has previously been unable to obtain sufficient Security Council support for a Hormuz resolution, with China and Russia objecting to earlier efforts.
The new proposal attempts to separate maritime security from the wider political confrontation with Tehran.
The Security Council has not adopted such a resolution.
Oil Jumps as Markets Reassess Peace Prospects
Oil markets demonstrated Wednesday how sensitive the global economy remains to developments in the conflict.
Brent crude futures settled $3.83 higher, or 3.86%, at $103.08 per barrel.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained $1.64, or 1.81%, to settle at $92.16 per barrel.
Those are the verified Sept. 23 Reuters settlement figures.
The increase followed Pezeshkian’s declaration that Iran would not surrender and came as traders reassessed near-term settlement prospects.
A day earlier, crude prices had declined as Saudi oil flows improved and investors considered the possibility of progress in U.S.-Iran diplomacy.
The rapid reversal illustrates the geopolitical premium that remains embedded in energy prices.
A credible agreement reopening Hormuz could reduce concerns about Middle Eastern supply disruptions.
Another major military escalation could increase them.
Gulf Oil Trade Adapts to War
The disruption does not mean Gulf oil exports have stopped.
Producers have developed increasingly complex methods to move crude despite the danger surrounding Hormuz.
Reuters reported this week that ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman have become an important alternative logistics system.
Tankers carry crude through Hormuz and transfer it to other vessels in comparatively safer waters off Oman, allowing the receiving ships to continue toward international buyers while shuttle vessels return to the Gulf.
Approximately 2.5 million barrels per day are expected to be loaded through Gulf of Oman ship-to-ship transfers in September, compared with approximately 1.4 million barrels per day in August, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters.
The system is keeping significant volumes of oil moving, but at substantial cost.
Reuters reported that benchmark freight rates for very large crude carriers moving Gulf oil to China have risen above $30 per barrel.
The shift shows the Gulf energy trade has not been paralyzed, but it has become far more complicated and expensive.
Airport Threat Adds Another Regional Risk
Rezaei’s warning adds aviation infrastructure to an already complicated confrontation involving military bases, commercial shipping, oil infrastructure, and international sanctions.
It is important not to overstate what Iran has said.
Reuters verifies that Rezaei threatened consequences for airports in neighboring countries that cooperate with the United States by stopping Iranian flights.
Reuters does not report that he specifically named Dubai International Airport, Hamad International Airport in Doha, Abu Dhabi’s airport, Muscat International Airport, or any other individual facility.
The distinction matters because naming individual airports would imply a level of targeting specificity that has not been established.
Iraq’s suspension of Iranian flights to Baghdad, however, demonstrates that the sanctions confrontation is already affecting regional aviation.
Whether other neighboring governments follow Iraq could become an important test of both Washington’s sanctions campaign and Tehran’s willingness to act on its warning.
Diplomacy and Escalation Move in Parallel
The U.S.-Iran conflict has therefore reached an unusual stage.
Washington is increasing economic pressure against Tehran and maintaining military pressure around Iran.
Iran is threatening retaliation against governments that cooperate with portions of that campaign.
Commercial vessels continue facing danger in Hormuz.
Normal shipping traffic remains dramatically below prewar levels.
At the same time, Iranian and American officials have resumed indirect communications; Tehran has offered a potential mechanism for reopening Hormuz; and other governments are attempting to create diplomatic arrangements to restore commercial navigation.
No verified comprehensive ceasefire or peace agreement exists.
No verified evidence shows that Iran has carried out Rezaei’s threatened action against neighboring airports.
For now, the airport warning represents another potential escalation point rather than a new military front.
Whether it becomes one could depend partly on how neighboring governments respond to the U.S. effort to isolate Iranian airlines—and whether renewed diplomacy in New York produces enough progress to prevent another expansion of the war.
Sources: Reuters reporting published Sept. 22-23, 2026, including reporting from New York, the United Nations and Dubai. Information verified through early Sept. 24, 2026.
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