Iran has accused the United States of putting flight safety and human lives at risk through aviation sanctions, the Tehran Times reports.

The claim puts a safety dimension at the center of a long-running dispute over Tehran's inability to access Western aircraft, spare parts and maintenance support. U.S. sanctions have blocked Iranian carriers from buying new Airbus and Boeing jets and from obtaining certified components through official channels for more than a decade.

Tehran's statement frames the restrictions not as a commercial or diplomatic matter but as one with direct operational consequences. Sanctions of this type typically force airlines to keep ageing aircraft flying, source parts through unverified intermediaries, or defer maintenance intervals — practices that regulators in other sanctioned jurisdictions have linked to elevated incident rates.

Iran's fleet has for years relied on aircraft delivered before the tightening of U.S. export controls, supplemented by a small number of transactions that preceded subsequent sanctions rounds. The country's airlines have continued operating domestic and regional routes with this constrained fleet.

The accusation also carries weight in the context of past tragedies. Iranian operators have suffered multiple fatal accidents involving aircraft that investigators and officials linked, in part, to difficulties securing parts and maintenance support under sanctions.

Washington has not publicly responded to the specific charge, and no change to the sanctions architecture appears imminent. For Iranian carriers, the practical effect remains the same: an aging fleet, restricted access to OEM support, and a maintenance supply chain that operates outside standard manufacturer channels.

Unless the sanctions regime changes, Iranian airlines will continue to manage safety-critical operations with the fleet and parts availability they can secure, and Tehran is likely to keep pressing the safety argument in international forums.