Iraq Halts Iranian Flights Across Four Major Airports Amid Escalating US Sanctions

Major airports in Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil, and Sulaimaniyah suspend Iranian flights as the US intensifies pressure on Iran’s aviation sector.

Published On 25 Sep 202625 Sep 2026

Four major airports across Iraq have suspended all flights to and from Iran, days after the United States imposed new aviation sanctions on global entities doing business with Iranian carriers.

This move represents the latest escalation of sanctions under Operation Economic Outcast, launched in August to isolate Iran’s economy on a global scale.

According to Iraqi state media, flight operations to and from Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil, and Sulaimaniyah airports have been completely halted.

Iraq historically served as a primary destination for Iranian airlines, a route particularly vital after Iraqi carriers ceased flights to Iran earlier this year amid regional conflict.

Consequently, travelers attempting to journey between Iran and Iraq will now be forced to undertake arduous land crossings of at least twelve hours, depending on their final destination.

Najaf airport

The suspension at Najaf International Airport was officially confirmed earlier on Friday by Iraq’s state news agency.

Airport director Hussein Muhanna confirmed to AFP that all flights between Iran and Najaf were suspended following a formal directive from the prime minister’s office to the governor of Najaf.

As both nations share Shia-majority populations, the Najaf route has long facilitated significant religious travel, carrying Iraqi Shia pilgrims to Iranian holy sites and vice versa.

In a post on X, the Iranian Consulate in Najaf reacted strongly to the suspension, 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?!”

An Iraqi airline employee at Najaf airport, speaking anonymously to AFP, noted that Iranian carriers typically operate at least twenty daily flights, a number that plummeted to just four scheduled departures to other destinations following the suspension.

Other regional nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, have also either canceled or restricted flights to Iran in compliance with the US aviation sanctions.

This regional compliance occurs despite warnings from the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council against neighboring countries imposing US-mandated flight bans.

With regional routes heavily restricted, Iranian airlines are now relying on a limited network of alternative routes, including Türkiye, Russia, China, and Armenia, to maintain operations.

“We cannot say that Iran is completely isolated from air traffic, but its aviation reach has shrunk considerably,” reported Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu from Tehran.

From Baghdad, Al Jazeera’s Jack Hewson noted that Iraq’s central government has remained silent on the flight suspensions, likely to avoid antagonizing the powerful pro-Iranian factions within the country’s parliament.

Hewson explained that the decision to comply with US mandates appears driven by private ground service providers—such as those handling refueling and baggage—who are unwilling to risk secondary sanctions or be frozen out of the US dollar system.

“Iraq is in a highly precarious position,” Hewson concluded. “While deeply tied to the US, its geographical, economic, and political ties to Iran leave it severely squeezed between the two rival powers.”

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