Badr warns government against enforcing US sanctions on Iranian airlines

BAGHDAD — The Badr parliamentary bloc warned the government and the Civil Aviation Authority against enforcing U.S. sanctions on Iranian airlines, a day before Washington says the carriers will be cut off from international aviation.

Spokesperson Hamed Abbas al-Mousawi issued “a direct and strongly worded warning to the Iraqi government and the Civil Aviation Authority against the consequences of submitting to these unlawful decisions and becoming involved in their implementation,” calling compliance “a strategic mistake and a dangerous violation of established principles and laws” because the sanctions are unilateral rather than based on a Security Council resolution. “We warn the Iraqi government against passing this decision or complying with it under any justification,” he said, adding that officials who support it could face parliamentary scrutiny.

The statement followed reports citing unnamed government sources saying Iraq would be among the first to comply. The bloc called for an official statement “clarifying the real position, refuting the media reports and declaring full commitment to Iraqi sovereignty.”

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines on Sept. 8, saying the aviation sector had been used to move weapons, personnel and other cargo. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that Iranian carriers would effectively be shut out of international aviation from Sept. 23 as airports, fuel suppliers and service providers face the prospect of sanctions for continuing to serve them.

Restrictions would hit the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims visiting Najaf, Karbala, Baghdad and Samarra, Mousawi said, calling interference with those journeys a crossing of “doctrinal and religious red lines,” and the hotels, transport and service businesses that depend on them. “Compliance with these external demands would deliver a severe and direct blow to Iraq’s tourism sector, hotels, transportation and service sectors in the holy governorates that depend heavily on arrivals from the Islamic Republic,” he said.

The European Union listed Iran Air, Mahan Air and Saha Airlines under sanctions in 2024 over allegations of Iranian military support for Russia.