BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Erbil and Sulaimaniya airports suspended Iranian flights starting on Friday, two sources said, after other Iraqi airports took the same step earlier in the week.

The move means that according to sources and state media, flights to and from Iran are suspended from all four Iraqi airports at which they were operating Baghdad, Najaf, Erbil and Sulaimaniya.

Iraq’s state news agency reported the suspension at Najaf International Airport earlier on Friday. Two separate sources said earlier in the week that Iraq ordered its civil aviation authority to halt Iranian flights to Baghdad airport from Wednesday. The sources said at the time that the government was discussing diverting Iranian flights from Baghdad to Najaf.

Washington had annou­nced it would impose sanctions on any global companies doing business with Iranian airlines after Sept 23, with the aim of grounding Iran’s entire civilian fleet worldwide.

The United Arab Emirates, the Middle East’s biggest travel hub, also said on Thursday it was suspending all flights by Iranian airlines to and from the country until further notice.

Iraq’s Najaf airport, a top destination for Shia pilgrims, suspended all Iranian flights on Friday, enforcing US sanctions and leaving travellers scrambling for solutions.

Airport director Hussein Muhanna said that “all flights were halted between Iran and Najaf airport following a directive from the prime minister’s office to the governor” of Najaf.

“All Iraqi airports, including in Kurdistan, have enforced the ban,” a government source said.

The airport in the holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, is a major hub for Iranian flights and their main destination in Iraq.

They mainly carry Iraqi Shia pilgrims to Iran’s holy cities or Iranians visiting sacred sites in Iraq. The flights also serve Iraqi students studying in Iran, and patients seeking medical treatment there.

Haidar Mansour, 50, was hoping to travel to Iran this month for a kidney transplant after three years of undergoing dialysis.

“People’s lives are at risk,” Mansour said. “I cannot even walk in the street, it is impossible for me to travel by land.” Instead of a flight lasting only a few hours, passengers will have now to take a land journey of at least 12 hours, depending on the destination.

Across the border, Iraqi doctoral student Assad Jabbar is stranded in Qom after being turned back at the airport from his Friday flight home. His only option is the longer land route, but taxis and buses are already “pac­ked and prices are rising”, he said.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2026