Iraqi airports halt Iranian flights after new US aviation sanctions

Four major airports in Iraq have stopped all flights to and from Iran, following Washington's decision to expand sanctions targeting companies that do business with Iranian airlines, according to Al Jazeera.

Iraqi state media reported that Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports would no longer handle Iranian air traffic. The move follows the United States' announcement earlier this week of tougher aviation-related sanctions as part of what Washington has called Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign launched in August aimed at cutting Iran off from global commerce.

Iraq had become one of the busiest destinations for Iranian carriers after Iraqi airlines halted service to Iran in February, when a war broke out between Israel, the United States and Iran, Al Jazeera reported. With flights now suspended in both directions, travelers moving between the two countries face an overland trip of roughly 12 hours or more, depending on where they are headed.

The suspension at Najaf's international airport was confirmed by its director, Hussein Muhanna, who told AFP that the halt came after an order from the prime minister's office to the province's governor. Najaf holds particular significance for the route, since it serves as a major gateway for Iraqi Shia pilgrims traveling to Iran's holy cities and for Iranians visiting sacred sites in Iraq.

The Iranian consulate in Najaf criticized the shutdown in a social media post, questioning why an airport tied to Shia Islam's holiest sites would be closed off to what it described as the world's largest Shia-majority nation.

An airline employee at Najaf airport told AFP that Iranian carriers had typically run around 20 flights a day before the suspension. By Friday, only four flights to other destinations remained on the schedule.

Iraq is not alone in complying with the tightened US measures. Al Jazeera reported that other countries in the region, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have also cancelled or scaled back flights connected to Iran in order to comply with the sanctions. This is despite a warning from the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council cautioning neighboring states against enforcing a US-driven flight ban.

As a result, Iranian airlines have been left leaning on a shrinking set of international routes, including connections to Turkiye, Russia, China and Armenia, to keep some operations running. Al Jazeera correspondent Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Tehran, said Iran's air links have not been completely severed but have "shrunk considerably."

Iraq's federal government has so far made no public statement addressing the suspensions. Al Jazeera's Jack Hewson, reporting from Baghdad, suggested this silence likely reflects an effort to avoid provoking pro-Iranian blocs within Iraq's parliament. Hewson said ground-handling firms responsible for services such as refueling and baggage processing appear unwilling to risk being cut off from the US dollar financial system under secondary sanctions.

Hewson described Iraq's position as a difficult balancing act, noting that the country maintains close ties to both Washington and Tehran and is often caught between the two when tensions escalate.