NAJAF,— Najaf Airport is still receiving Iranian passenger planes, even as Baghdad International Airport has halted taking them after private ground-handling firms there chose to follow tough U.S. sanctions, sources told Ultra Iraq.
The information came from officials inside Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority and the Coordination Framework, a political bloc.
An aviation authority source said the agency itself has taken no action against flights to or from Iran and has not ordered a halt to services for Iranian airlines.
“The authority has not issued any measures to date concerning flights to or from Iran, nor has it suspended services for them. This decision was made by international companies operating at Baghdad Airport,” the source said.
The source said that if the authority ever issued such an order, every airport in Iraq would have to follow it.
He said two firms working at Baghdad Airport, MASIL Ground Handling Services and Kuwait-based National Aviation Services, chose on their own to stop serving Iranian carriers starting September 23 in order to follow U.S. sanctions rules. Both companies notified Iranian airlines ahead of time, the source said.
Najaf Airport uses a different foreign firm, LAM, which has not taken any similar step against Iranian planes, according to the source.
A senior Coordination Framework official backed up this account, saying whether ground services keep running for Iranian airlines depends on each company’s own policy.
“Some fear being subjected to international sanctions, while others have no international ties that would expose them to such risks,” the official said, adding that it comes down to where a company does business, whether in Iraq, Iran or nations already under U.S. sanctions.
The official said Baghdad Airport depends on handling firms such as Menzies Aviation, working with MASIL, and NAS, and that their global business links pushed them to stop helping Iranian carriers there.
Najaf has kept receiving Iranian flights because the firm running services there is different and may still work with Iranian partners, the official said.
He stressed that halting Iranian flights at Baghdad does not mean Iraq has banned Iranian aviation altogether. The problem, he said, is limited to Baghdad Airport and the sanctions risk facing the companies based there.
Flight-tracking data shows Najaf departure
On Thursday, Sept. 24, iKurd.net News reviewed live data from Flightradar24, a flight-tracking service, and found an Iranian aircraft in the air heading from Najaf toward Iran. The tracker did not list a final destination, but the route pointed toward Tehran or Mashhad.
The aircraft was identified as a Boeing 737-524, tail number EP-RBC, flying as AVA Airlines flight AXV9243.
Private firms, not the state
Iraqi government sources said Wednesday, that the halt was ordered by private businesses worried about sanctions, not by the government.
The state-run Iraqi News Agency cited sources saying the issue traces back to ground-handling and support firms under contract with Iranian airlines that refused service out of fear of penalties.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he expected every remaining Iranian airline to stop flying within two days because of new U.S. secondary sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector.
Speaking to CNBC after meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Bessent said Iranian carriers would halt operations September 23, since planes could not be refueled, serviced or sold tickets without putting service providers at risk of losing access to the dollar financial system.
The Treasury Department had already sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines on September 8 as part of what it called a campaign to economically isolate Iran.
The list included Iran Airtour, Iran Aseman, Qeshm Air, Kish Air and Sepehran, which Washington accused of aiding the Iranian government and military, including moving weapons, personnel and illegal cargo.
(With files from ultrairaq.ultrasawt.com)
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