I think I have found a solution - thank you for your comments and suggestions :)
The solution is to modify (activate/deactivate if necessary) "Axes" property as follows:
app.UIAxes.InteractionOptions.LimitsDimensions = "x";
EDIT:
In the above example zoom will be limited to x axis only. Similarly
app.UIAxes.InteractionOptions.LimitsDimensions = "y";
app.UIAxes.InteractionOptions.LimitsDimensions = "xy";
would restrict zoom to y, or xy axes (3D plots can be zoomed in xyz).
A bit "tricky" it to disable zoom at all. So far I have found the following workaround, but maybe there is a simpler way?:
app.UIAxes.Interactions = [panInteraction];
indirectly deactivates all xyz zoom axes and leaves "pan" active.
app.UIAxesOrg.Interactions = [zoomInteraction, panInteraction];
would activate both pan and zoom.
