Iraq says it’s seeking exemption from US ban on Iranian airlines ‘for humanitarian reasons’

The Iraqi government says it is holding talks with the United States to secure an exemption from the ban on Iranian airlines, which has disrupted travel for patients, students and pilgrims.

All Iraqi airports enforced the ban this week, resulting in major disruption at the airport of 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 says.

An exemption would allow flights to resume “for humanitarian reasons, including medical treatment, education, religious visits, and for the interest of civilians,” it adds.

Iranian airlines mainly carry Iraqi Shia pilgrims to Iran’s holy cities or Iranians visiting sacred sites in Iraq. The flights also serve Iraqi students studying in Iran and patients seeking medical treatment there.

Several Iraqis tell AFP that enforcing the US sanctions has left them scrambling for solutions, with some fearing they will lose access to treatment in Iran, and others stranded there with little choice but to take the more than 12-hour journey home by land.

Iraq has joined several countries including the United Arab Emirates in enforcing the US ban, after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iranian airlines would be “shut down” on Wednesday.

Relations between Iraq and neighboring Iran, both Shia-majority countries, have long been close, due to religious kinship as well as political and economic interests.

Iraqi airlines stopped flying to Iran at the start of the Middle East war in February.