On September 8, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Almaty-registered Tour Invest LLP to the Specially Designated Persons (SDN) List. According to the U.S., the company acted as a general sales agent and provided significant support to the Iranian airline Mahan Air, which is subject to U.S. sanctions, Forbes.kz reported.
Tour Invest has been operating in Kazakhstan since 2014 as a tour operator and is classified as a small business. The sanctions were part of a larger OFAC operation against Iran's aviation sector: simultaneously, restrictions were imposed on 35 organizations and one individual in six countries. The list included dozens of Iranian airlines, as well as foreign intermediaries in the aviation and logistics sectors.
For Kazakhstan, this event has primarily foreign economic and reputational significance. The company's inclusion on the SDN List means the blocking of its assets under U.S. jurisdiction and creates serious risks for international financial transactions and partners, even for small companies. This case demonstrates that US sanctions against Iran are increasingly extending to intermediaries in third countries. For Kazakhstan, this means the need to more closely monitor the activities of companies involved in international payment, transportation, and trade chains with Iran.
At the same time, US sanctions against an individual Kazakhstani company should not automatically be interpreted as sanctions against Kazakhstan or its state policy. However, for Kazakhstani businesses, this is an important signal to consider the risks of secondary sanctions and possible restrictions on access to the global financial system.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
September 10, 2026