US lifts sanctions on Iraqi airline linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

The United States has lifted sanctions targeting Iraq’s Fly Baghdad airline, a company it had previously designated for alleged links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In an update to its website, the US Treasury lifted sanctions on Fly Baghdad and two of its aircraft, but maintained its sanctions against a man previously identified as the company’s owner, Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani.

Washington had originally designated the airline, its aircraft and owner in January 2024, alleging that it provided support to the IRGC’s Quds Force and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

A US Treasury official, speaking on condition of anonymity, tells AFP the airline had been removed after going through the department’s administrative reconsideration process.

“FBA (Fly Baghdad Airlines) has demonstrated major changes to their operations such that their listing is no longer warranted,” the official says.

They clarify that the removal was “not indicative of any shift in US policy toward the Government of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—Qods Force, any designated terrorist organization, or any person who supports or acts on behalf of any of these.”