The Iraqi government said on Saturday it is holding talks with the United States to secure an exemption from a ban on Iranian airlines that has disrupted travel for patients, students and pilgrims.
All Iraqi airports enforced the US measures this week, causing major disruption especially at the airport in the holy city of Najaf, the main destination for Iranian flights to Iraq.
“The Iraqi government is holding direct talks with the American side to exempt certain Iraqi airports from these measures,” the prime minister’s media office said in a statement.
An exemption would allow flights to resume “for humanitarian reasons, including medical treatment, education, religious visits, and for the interest of civilians.”
Iranian airlines mainly transport Iraqi Shia pilgrims to Iran’s holy cities and Iranians visiting sacred sites in Iraq.
The routes also serve Iraqi students studying in Iran and patients seeking medical treatment there.Several Iraqis told AFP that the enforcement of the sanctions has left them scrambling for alternatives.
Some fear losing access to treatment in Iran, while others stranded there face a more than 12-hour overland journey home.
Iraq has joined several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, in enforcing the ban after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iranian airlines would be “shut down.”
The measures target services such as fuel, landing and ticketing for Iranian carriers, with threats of secondary sanctions against foreign firms that assist them.
Relations between Iraq and neighbouring Iran, both Shia-majority countries, have long been close due to religious ties as well as political and economic interests.
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