BAGHDAD: The Iraqi government said on Saturday it is in talks with the United States to seek an exemption from sanctions on Iranian airlines, which have disrupted travel for patients, students and pilgrims.
All Iraqi airports enforced the US ban this week, resulting in major disruption at the airport serving the holy city of Najaf, the main destination in Iraq for Iranian flights.
“The Iraqi government is holding direct talks with the American side to exempt certain Iraqi airports from these measures,” the prime minister’s media office said.
An exemption, it added, would allow flights to resume “for humanitarian reasons, including medical treatment, education, religious visits, and for the interest of civilians”.
Iranian airlines mainly carry Shia pilgrims to Iran’s cities or Iranians visiting sites in Iraq. The flights also serve Iraqi students studying in Iran and patients seeking medical treatment there.
Several Iraqis said the enforcement of the US sanctions has left them scrambling, with some fearing they would lose access to medical treatment in Iran or others stranded there and facing a more than 12-hour journey home by land.
Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2026
