ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq’s Najaf International Airport said it will suspend all incoming and outgoing flights to and from Iran starting Friday, based on official directives from relevant authorities, as the country tightens measures on Iranian flights amid US threat of sanctions.

In a statement, the Najaf airport revealed that “it has been decided to stop all incoming and outgoing flights to and from the Islamic Republic of Iran, effective from 02:00 [AM] on Friday, 9/25/2026, until further notice.”

The measure is “based on the official directives issued by the relevant authorities,” according to the airport, which added that the public will be notified once the flights resume.

Local pro-Iran media in Iraq claim that around 85 percent of all flights at Najaf International Airport come from Iran.

The move comes days after Iran’s civil aviation authority announced Baghdad “will no longer receive flights from Iran,” with Tehran coordinating to redirect flights bound for Baghdad to Najaf airport instead. 

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

On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asserted that all Iranian airlines will be “shut down around the world,” as part of  Washington’s economic pressure on the Islamic republic.

“If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel, you cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system,” Bessent added.

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority announced on Thursday that it was suspending all flights from Iranian airlines to and from the country, explaining that “the decision to suspend came based on the US ban imposed on Iranian airlines in the use of airports in various countries of the world.”

Last week, Mahan Air, an Iranian airline sanctioned by the US for alleged ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), announced that decisions made by Omani and Turkish aviation authorities have led to the cancellation of flights between Iran and Oman from September 17 and those to Turkey from September 21 “until further notice.”

In a televised interview on Wednesday, Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned that airports in the region will not be able to operate flights either if they refuse services for Iranian aircraft.

“If a country gets involved in cooperation and adventurism with the United States, its airports may no longer be able to operate flights either. So decide for yourselves: either work with the United States, or on the contrary, stand up in our defense and keep American aircraft out, or simply remain neutral,” said the Iranian general.

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.