Jordan, Bahrain airlines cancel Baghdad flights

Two Mideast airlines say they have suspended flights to and from Baghdad as the killing of Iran’s top general in a targeted US airstrike in Iraq inflamed geopolitical tensions.

Jordan’s flagship carrier, Royal Jordanian, says in a statement Friday that it halted all service between Amman and Baghdad “in light of the security situation in the Iraqi capital and at Baghdad International Airport, the target of the strike that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani.”

Gulf Air, the flag carrier of Bahrain, suspended flights to and from Bagdad and the city of Najaf in southcentral Iraq. The royal family of Bahrain has opposed Iran’s Shiite theocracy.

Royal Jordanian operates 18 weekly scheduled flights between Baghdad and Amman. The airline said its regularly scheduled flights to Najaf and the Iraqi cities of Basra, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah are operating as usual.

AP