Iraq has allowed Iranian airlines, excluding Mahan Air, to start 40 daily flights to and from Najaf International Airport, Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi's office said on Friday.
The decision was made “through a series of communications and follow-ups with the relevant parties” its statement added, in an apparent reference to the US, which imposed sanctions on Iranian air travel last month.
Mr Zaidi appreciated “the positive response of the US government to Iraq’s efforts and its co-operation in granting the requested exemption” to facilitate the travel of pilgrims and people seeking medical treatment.
Last week, the Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation said ticket sales to Najaf had been suspended.
An Iranian consulate in the city expressed outrage at the ban. It wrote on X: “Najaf International Airport, the shrine of the first Imam of the Shiites, and the capital of their last Imam, is closed to the largest Shiite country in the world?!”
Najaf is home to the Shrine of Imam Ali, the Prophet Mohammed's cousin and son-in-law. In June, the coffin of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was paraded in the city as part of a funeral detour in Iraq.
Flights to Baghdad were suspended on Wednesday. But Iranian state media had initially said that the route to Najaf would remain open. On Tuesday, the Iraqi Transport Ministry also said Iraqi Airways would resume flights to and from Iran in October.
Iraq had not officially announced the ban imposed last Friday but ground-handling companies stopped serving the routes, fearing sanctions being imposed by the US Treasury.
The sanctions are part of the US campaign to isolate Iran economically and force concessions in the war. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that companies who deal with Iranian airlines would be “knocked out of the dollar system”.
Responding to the sanctions, the UAE on Thursday suspended all flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country until further notice. Flights between Iran and Oman have also been affected.
