Iraqi airports halt Iranian flights as US aviation sanctions bite

Najaf International Airport suspended all flights to and from Iran on Friday, effective at 2:00 AM on 25 September until further notice, under official directives announced through a press release carried by Iraq’s state news agency INA, Rudaw reported.

Airport director Hussein Muhanna told AFP the halt followed “a directive from the prime minister’s office to the governor” of Najaf, Al Jazeera reported.

Flights to and from Iran are now suspended at all four Iraqi airports where they operated — Baghdad, whose order came on Wednesday, plus Najaf, Erbil and Sulaimaniya, Reuters reported. Erbil and Sulaimaniya acted from Friday, two sources told Reuters.

The enforcement follows Washington’s warning that any global firm doing business with Iranian airlines faces sanctions after 23 September, aiming to ground Iran’s civilian fleet, Reuters reported. The US has named 36 entities including 27 active carriers, Rudaw reported, and the UAE, the region’s biggest travel hub, suspended all Iranian airline flights on Thursday, Reuters said.

Iranian carriers usually run at least 20 daily flights at Najaf, an Iraqi airline employee told AFP, Al Jazeera reported. The suspension strands pilgrims, students and patients: Haidar Mansour, 50, due to travel to Iran this month for a kidney transplant, told AFP “people’s lives are at risk” and that overland travel was impossible for him, NDTV reported. Passengers face land journeys of at least 12 hours instead, AFP said.

Sources: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/three-iraqi-airports-suspend-iranian-flights-starting-friday-sources-state-media-2026-09-25/ | https://rudaw.net/english/categories/iraq/1079450 | https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/25/iraqi-airports-halt-iranian-flights-after-new-us-aviation-sanctions | https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/after-uae-key-iraqi-airport-bars-iranian-airlines-to-enforce-us-sanctions-12098710?pfrom=home-ndtvworld_world_middleeast