Iranian flights resume at Najaf after weeklong suspension

Shafaq News- Najaf

Iranian flights resumed at Najaf International Airport on Sunday after a suspension of more than a week, with the first Iranian aircraft landing at the airport, acting deputy director Hussein Al-Muhanna told Shafaq News.

Al-Muhanna said Najaf would continue receiving flights from Iran in the coming hours.

The resumption follows an announcement by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization on Saturday that Iranian and Iraqi carriers would restart services between Iran and Iraq through Najaf from Sunday.

The Iraqi government said on Friday that it had reached an agreement allowing Iranian airlines, except Mahan Air, to operate 40 flights daily to and from Najaf after Baghdad secured a US exemption.

Iraqi Airways had separately resumed its own services to Iranian airports through Najaf, while restrictions on Iranian carriers remained in place until the latest agreement.

Najaf suspended flights to and from Iran on Sept. 25 following official instructions, amid fallout from US Treasury sanctions imposed on Sept. 8 against 36 Iran-linked aviation targets, including 27 airlines.

On Sept. 29, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also issued Iraqi Airways a special license allowing passenger services between Iraq and Iran through Najaf under specific restrictions.