Four Iraqi airports have suspended all flights to and from Iran, days after the United States announced new aviation sanctions targeting global companies doing business with Iranian airlines.
Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil, and Sulaimaniyah airports are all affected. Iraqi state media confirmed that flights will no longer operate between Iran and any of the four airports.
The suspensions are the latest escalation since the US launched Operation Economic Outcast in August, an effort to isolate Iran from the global economy.
Iraq was one of the top destinations for Iranian airlines, particularly after Iraqi carriers stopped flying to Iran at the start of the US-Israel war on Iran in February. Passengers travelling between the two countries will now be forced to make a land journey of at least 12 hours, depending on their destination.
Najaf airport director Hussein Muhanna told sources that "all flights were halted between Iran and Najaf airport following a directive from the prime minister's office to the governor" of Najaf.
An Iraqi employee of an Iranian airline at Najaf airport told sources that Iranian carriers usually operate at least 20 daily flights. After the suspension, only four flights to other destinations remained scheduled on Friday.
Iraq and neighbouring Iran are both Shia-majority countries. Flights between the two nations carry Iraqi Shia Muslim pilgrims to Iran's holy cities and Iranians visiting sacred sites in Iraq.
The Iranian Consulate in Najaf responded to the suspension on social media, writing: "Najaf international airport, the shrine of the first Imam of the Shia, and the capital of their last Imam, is closed to the largest Shia country in the world?!"
Several other regional countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have either cancelled or restricted flights to Iran in compliance with the US sanctions. This is despite the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council warning neighbouring nations against enforcing the US flight ban.
Iranian airlines are now relying on a reduced number of routes, including through Turkey, Russia, China, and Armenia, to remain operational. According to reports from Tehran, Iran has not been completely cut off from air traffic, but its connectivity has "shrunk considerably."
Iraq's central government has made no public statement about the flight suspensions. According to reports from Baghdad, the government likely does not want to antagonise pro-Iranian factions within Iraq's parliament.
Companies providing ground services, including refuelling and baggage handling, are reported to be unwilling to risk secondary sanctions and being frozen out of the international US dollar system.
Iraq finds itself in a difficult position, bound by its ties to the United States while maintaining close relations with Iran.
