Six months after its withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran, the United States has reimposed sanctions on flag carrier IranAir — including every aircraft in its fleet. The move will directly target the safety of ordinary Iranians while at the same time imposing an extra burden on a civilian airline already laden with numerous problems in its structure and business model.

In the aftermath of its pullout from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May, the United States has resumed sanctions as part of a strategy to force Tehran to accept more curbs on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and its regional influence. On Nov. 5, Washington reimposed penalties on hundreds of entities and individuals related to Iran’s shipping, shipbuilding, banking, energy and aviation industries. The latter includes 67 aircraft operated by IranAir as well as the airline itself.

Iran has called the sanctions part of an “economic war.” President Hassan Rouhani said Nov. 10, “On the one hand, they [the United States] name an airline company [on its blacklist] and, on the other, they specify the serial number for the planes to fill the pages. This method and the way they inform aims merely to have a psychological impact on the Iranian nation.”

“It’s a re-establishment of all sanctions that were in place prior to the JCPOA,” Saj Ahmad, chief analyst of StrategicAero Research, told Al-Monitor. “Ultimately, in the case of IranAir, the US government sees the airline as an instrument of Iran’s government and, as such, wants to enact punitive measures that make life difficult for the airline to operate, particularly as it has such an old fleet and now cannot buy new or even used jets anywhere. The same also appears to be the case for Aseman Airlines too.”