In Big Blow To Tehran, Major Iraqi Airports Halt All Iranian Flights

Either everyone flies or no one flies. That’s Iran’s warning issued Friday in the face of sweeping US sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic’s airlines and aviation sector.

“If Iran cannot fly and receive airport services, no country in the region will have that possibility either,“ Mohammad Mokhber, a senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, wrote on X.

Wednesday saw a Bessent-announced deadline for foreign companies to stop doing business with 27 sanctioned Iranian airlines go into effect. Upon this, all Iranian flights to the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan were canceled – with more destinations being added to the list.

But newly announced flight blockages for Baghdad and other airports in Iraq is going to hurt. Al Jazeera details on Friday:

Four Iraqi airports have suspended all flights to and from Iran days after the United States announced new aviation sanctions on any global companies doing business with Iranian airlines.

It is the latest ramping up of sanctions since the US launched Operation Economic Outcast in August in an effort to isolate Iran from the global economy.

Iraq has been a top destination for Iranian airlines, also especially given all of the important Shia religious shrines in the country.

The canceled transit will impact Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports, Iraqi state media has indicated.

“Iraq was one of the top destinations for Iranian airlines, especially after Iraqi airlines stopped flying to Iran at the start of the US-Israel war on Iran in February,” Al Jazeera notes. “Passengers travelling between Iran and Iraq will now be forced to make a land journey of at least 12 hours, depending on the destination.”

Iraq has remained a US regional ally but in a relationship that’s been fraught with tensions, given Washington has in the post-Saddam era constantly tried to ensure it ‘approves’ of the prime minister.

After the 2003 invasion, one key ‘unintended consequence’ was the rise of an Iran-friendly Shia-dominated government. Ever since then the US has tried to manage and pressure Baghdad, using as leverage the fact that the country’s oil revenue is held in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Iranian flights to China are still going strong, at least for now.