Iraq will suspend flights by Iranian airlines after the US Treasury Department warned that sanctioned carriers would be grounded worldwide within two days, Iraqi government sources told AFP.
"Iraq will enforce the ban on Iranian airlines in accordance with the US decision starting Tuesday at dawn," an Iraqi official said. He added that countries that failed to implement the measure risked US sanctions.
Turkish Airlines also stops service
Turkey's national carrier, Turkish Airlines, has suspended all flights to Iran until at least March 2027, a company representative told Iran International by phone.
The representative said there were currently no flights to Iran on the airline's schedule before March and that there was no guarantee service would resume even then.
Last week, The Associated Press reported that Turkish authorities had ordered Mahan Air, Iran's largest private airline, to suspend its flights to Turkey. The ban is expected to take effect Monday and follows US Treasury sanctions against three Turkish companies that provided the airline with ground handling, aircraft parts and distribution services.
The suspension comes as Washington intensifies pressure on Iran's aviation sector. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that "on September 23, all the Iranian airlines will be shut down around the world."
Bessent also spelled out the consequences for companies that continue servicing them.
"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," he said.
Bessent declined to estimate how long the pressure campaign would last, saying he did not know whether it would be "a week, a month or six months," but added that the pressure on Tehran was unprecedented.
Iran pressures Iraqi militias
Meanwhile, sources told Saudi network Al Arabiya over the past 24 hours that Iran was pressuring Shiite militias in Iraq not to surrender their weapons. According to the sources, the pressure comes amid efforts by Baghdad to bring the militias' weapons under state control.
The sources added that the Iraqi government had presented the militias with several proposals concerning the process of consolidating weapons under state control. At the same time, the committee tasked with overseeing the process was reported to have received a document outlining the militias' demands.
