Iran03 October, 20262 min read
U.S. Grants Iraq Exemption To Resume Iran Flights To Najaf, Excluding Mahan Air
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Iraq receives U.S. exemption allowing 40 daily flights between Najaf and Iran, excluding Mahan Air. Najaf Airport suspended flights with Iran due to sanctions; exemption lifts the suspension.
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Najaf flights get exemption
The United States granted Iraq an exemption to transport pilgrims from Iran to Najaf, even as Washington sought to economically isolate Tehran, according to L'Orient Today.
L'Orient Today reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned, "All Iranian airlines will be put out of service everywhere in the world," threatening to exclude any entity that allows them to continue operating from the international dollar financial system.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said the exemption would allow flights to resume between one of Iraq’s holy cities and Iran, and the office of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said most Iranian airlines would be allowed to operate a total of 40 flights each day between Najaf and Iranian destinations.
Iraq’s foreign ministry said Scott Bessent agreed to the exemption during a meeting in Washington with Fuad Hussein, Iraq’s foreign minister, on Thursday.
Mahan Air was not part of the exemption, and the United States accused the carrier of transporting personnel, weapons, equipment and funds for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Resumption amid fuel limits
Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization head Abuzar Shiroudi said flights between Iran and Iraq would resume on Sunday by Iranian and Iraqi airlines, and he urged passengers to confirm flight times through official airline or airport channels before traveling. Breakingthenews.net said Iraq’s Najaf International Airport suspended all flights to and from Iran on September 25 until further notice, and it tied the resumption to decisions taken at the level of the high authorities of the two countries. Iraq said an aviation fuel shortage could limit the number of flights that operate, and it quoted Hussein Ahmed saying the planned 40 daily flights exceeded Iraq’s current operational capacity.
"currently, only 20 Iraqi Airways planes are available to operate the flights," and the disruption followed US Treasury sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector. Najaf is home to major Shiite Muslim shrines and receives millions of pilgrims from around the world, particularly Iran, and it described the resumption as intended in part to facilitate the movement of tourists and pilgrims between Iraq and Iran.
Political pressure and next steps
Iran’s foreign ministry issued a lengthy statement on Friday calling for Iraq to take "appropriate measures" in response to U.S. pressure, and Ali Akbar Velayati addressed Prime Minister al-Zaidi on social media. "Legitimacy does not come from Washington; it comes from the soil of Najaf and the blood of the martyrs," Velayati wrote as Iraq’s leadership navigated between the United States and Iran. Iraq secured a US sanctions exemption allowing up to 40 daily flights to and from Najaf, following appeals from senior Iraqi political and religious figures and demonstrations demanding the restoration of air links.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi welcomed the US decision, describing it as a positive response to Baghdad’s diplomatic efforts, and he said the resumption of flights would facilitate travel, particularly for pilgrims, patients and tourists. Ammar al-Hakim called on Iraq’s civil aviation authorities to reopen all airports across the country to flights between Iran and Iraq, even as the limited Najaf arrangement excluded Mahan Air.