Iran urges Iraq to lift flight ban amid US sanctions

Iran called on Iraq to lift remaining flight restrictions caused by US sanctions and fully restore normal air travel between the two countries, even after services partially resumed at one Iraqi airport earlier in the week.

In a statement on Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned Washington’s “illegal and inhumane” efforts to disrupt Iran’s trade and air transport through the “extraterritorial enforcement” of US sanctions, and urged Baghdad to remove the restrictions.

It said the movement of millions of Iranian and Iraqi citizens required “an independent and responsible approach” to disagreements between the two governments.

Flights between Najaf and Iran had restarted late on Monday, according to the country’s state-run Iraqi News Agency, which credited “diligent efforts” by Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi with the resumption.

Iraq’s ambassador to Iran, Yasser Abdulzahra al-Hajjaj, said Baghdad had not decided to suspend Iranian flights.

Foreign ground-handling companies refused to provide services for fear of US sanctions.

Flights remained suspended at Baghdad, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports, forcing passengers onto land journeys of at least 12 hours and disrupting pilgrim traffic between the Shia-majority areas.

The suspensions prompted protests across Iraq, including outside Najaf airport and in Nasiriya, Karbala and Amarah, according to the Iranian news agency Press TV.

The US ban, which took effect on September 23 and targets any company doing business with Iranian airlines, has sharply cut Iran’s international air links.

Flights to and from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini international airport have fallen 42 percent, according to aviation monitor FlightRadar24, with routes to Georgia, Oman and Azerbaijan halted entirely and flights to Dubai suspended since September 23.

Flights to China have held steady, while the busiest route, to Turkiye, has fallen by only 19 percent, even as individual airlines have shifted service on and off the route.

Iraq’s government had sought a US exemption “on humanitarian grounds related to medical treatment, education, religious visits, and the interests of civilians”.