ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The suspension of Iranian flights landing at Baghdad International Airport is due to a service blockade by ground-handling companies at Iraqi airports, a source told Iraqi state media on Wednesday, citing “fears of facing sanctions.” 

Iran’s civil aviation authority announced on Tuesday that Baghdad and Muscat airports “will no longer receive flights from Iran” starting at midnight, with Tehran coordinating to redirect flights bound for Baghdad to Najaf airport instead. 

The decision came a day after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that all Iranian airlines will be “shut down around the world” starting on Wednesday, as part of economic outcast sanctions against the Islamic republic. 

A source familiar with the matter told Iraqi state media that the suspension of Iranian flights is due to private ground-handling service companies at Iraqi airports “declining to provide services” over fears of American sanctions. 

In late August, Washington announced ‘Operation Economic Outcast,’ a large-scale sanctions package on Iran that seeks to clamp down on third parties that directly and indirectly support the Iranian regime by facilitating its oil exports and shadow economy.

The source added that the airport does not interfere in the “details of the contracts between these companies and the airlines.” 

Ahmed Hoshyar, director of Erbil International Airport, told The New Region on Wednesday that no directives have so far been received from the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority regarding a blockade on Iranian flights, saying, “Everything depends on their decision.” 

In May, Bessent warned that Washington would shut down Iranian airlines’ access to landing spots as part of its pressure campaign against Tehran.

On Thursday, the sanctioned Mahan Air, with alleged ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), announced that it will be suspending flights to destinations in Turkey and Oman, coming as Washington continues to pressure third countries to sever ties with Tehran.

On Saturday, Imam Khomeini Airport City (IKAC), Iran’s primary aviation hub, urged passengers to disregard what it described as “rumors regarding flights,” and to continue their travel according to their tickets, adding that “the suspension of Mahan Air flights to Istanbul and Ankara does not mean that all flights between Iran and Turkey have been halted,” the semi-official Student News Agency (SNN) reported.