Nujaba calls sit-in at Najaf airport as Basra MPs give government 48 hours

NAJAF — Harakat al-Nujaba has called a sit-in outside Najaf International Airport on Monday against the halt to flights between Iraq and Iran, appealing to tribal sheikhs, pilgrim service groups and airline and airport employees to join, as Basra lawmakers gave the government 48 hours to resolve the issue.

“We call on all honorable people of the Iraqi nation, tribal sheikhs, members of Hussein service groups, our sons in aviation companies and the honorable airport employees to take a responsible stand against the unjust decision to close Iraqi airports, particularly Najaf International Airport, to Iranian aviation in response to unjust American pressure,” said Nazim al-Saeedi, head of the movement’s executive council. “We call on you all to participate widely and actively in the sit-in rejecting this unjust decision tomorrow, Monday, in front of the gate of Najaf International Airport.” He said the halt had stopped patients travelling for treatment and “hundreds of thousands” of people from visiting the Imam Ali shrine, and hurt religious tourism and the businesses that depend on it.

A group of Basra lawmakers gave the government 48 hours on Saturday and began collecting signatures to summon the prime minister, the transport minister and the head of the Civil Aviation Authority before parliament.

Supporters of Iran protested in Basra and Kufa on Saturday, where a cleric threatened to stop any plane landing in Iraq and seminary students chanted for Iran’s system of clerical rule. Nujaba leader Akram al-Kaabi had already called for sit-ins inside airports until what he called a U.S. decision is overturned, and the Badr bloc warned the government against “submitting to these unlawful decisions.” Nujaba is among the armed factions refusing to hand over weapons to the state.

The government said on Saturday it is in direct talks with Washington to exempt some airports so flights for medical treatment, education and religious visits can resume. Baghdad stopped receiving Iranian aircraft from midnight on Tuesday, and Najaf suspended all flights to and from Iran from 2 a.m. on Friday on a directive an airport source said came from the prime minister’s office, with nine Iranian airlines stopping operations there. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines on Sept. 8, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said they would be effectively shut out of international aviation from Sept. 23.