Daijiworld Media Network - Najaf
Najaf, Sep 26: Iraq’s Najaf International Airport has suspended all flights to and from Iran until further notice, amid a widening disruption to Iranian air connectivity following new US sanctions.
In a statement carried by Iraq’s state news agency INA, the airport administration said that, following directives from the competent authorities, all flights to and from the Islamic Republic of Iran would be suspended from 2 a.m. Friday local time, corresponding to 11 p.m. GMT on Thursday.
No date has been set for the resumption of services.
The airport administration asked all concerned parties to take the necessary measures and notify airlines and other operators about the suspension. It said any decision to resume flights would be communicated through an official announcement.
Following the move, Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, warned regional countries of wider disruptions to airspace and aviation services.
Mokhber said that if Iran was unable to operate flights and receive airport services, “no one in the region can either”, Reuters reported, citing Iran’s Nournews.
The latest suspension comes after Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation announced on Tuesday that flights between Tehran and Baghdad, as well as Tehran and Muscat in Oman, would be suspended from early Wednesday.
The United Arab Emirates later announced the suspension of flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the country. Oman, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan have also introduced restrictions affecting Iranian air services.
The developments came after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that Iranian airlines’ operations worldwide would cease from Wednesday as part of sanctions targeting Iran.
The sanctions come amid the prolonged US-Israeli conflict with Iran, which has remained at a stalemate for months. Washington has signalled a shift in strategy by targeting companies in third countries that conduct business with Iranian firms, an approach commonly known as “secondary sanctions”.
The US has also warned that airports and companies continuing to provide services to sanctioned Iranian airlines could face the risk of losing access to the US dollar-based financial system.
The expanding restrictions have raised the possibility of further disruption to Iran’s international air connectivity as countries and aviation operators respond to the new sanctions and related directives.