{"id":176,"date":"2026-10-05T08:47:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/?p=176"},"modified":"2026-10-05T08:47:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T08:47:59","slug":"iranian-commercial-flights-resume-to-iraqs-najaf-after-us-sanctions-waiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/iranian-commercial-flights-resume-to-iraqs-najaf-after-us-sanctions-waiver\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian Commercial Flights Resume to Iraq\u2019s Najaf After US Sanctions Waiver"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/large_2tGtm32nEtT6Wu2Z-1-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/large_2tGtm32nEtT6Wu2Z-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/large_2tGtm32nEtT6Wu2Z-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/large_2tGtm32nEtT6Wu2Z-1-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/large_2tGtm32nEtT6Wu2Z-1.png 1182w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commercial air travel between <strong>Iran and Iraq<\/strong> has resumed, with an Iranian passenger flight arriving at <strong>Najaf International Airport<\/strong> after Iraq secured a waiver from US sanctions affecting Iranian airlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <strong>Caspian Airlines<\/strong> flight carrying about <strong>150 passengers from Tehran<\/strong> landed in Najaf on Sunday, marking the resumption of direct Iranian air services to the Iraqi city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Footage from the airport showed the aircraft taxiing after landing, while passengers completed immigration and other entry procedures inside the terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One passenger, <strong>Hadi Hassan Al-Ebrahimi<\/strong>, said he had been waiting for flights to resume for 23 days and welcomed the return of direct air travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another passenger from Mashhad said the roughly <strong>2,000-kilometre journey<\/strong> by other means had been physically demanding, making the restoration of flights particularly important for travellers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Najaf Airport Deputy Director <strong>Hussein Muhanna<\/strong> said flights had resumed following efforts by the Iraqi government and public calls for the restoration of Iranian air services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Muhanna, the agreement allows eligible Iranian airlines to operate <strong>up to 40 flights a day<\/strong> to and from Najaf. The airport is preparing technical and administrative arrangements to manage the expected increase in passenger traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The resumption follows US sanctions targeting Iran\u2019s aviation sector, which led some ground-handling companies and airports to suspend services to Iranian carriers over concerns about violating US restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iraq subsequently secured an exemption allowing Iranian airlines to operate flights to and from Najaf, with <strong>Mahan Air excluded<\/strong> from the arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The development is expected to restore a key air link for passengers travelling between Iran and Iraq, particularly those visiting <strong>Najaf<\/strong>, one of the major religious destinations in Iraq.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Commercial air travel between Iran and Iraq has resumed, with an Iranian passenger flight arriving at Najaf International Airport after Iraq secured a waiver from US sanctions affecting Iranian airlines. A Caspian Airlines flight carrying about 150 passengers from Tehran landed in Najaf on Sunday, marking the resumption of direct Iranian air services to the &#8230; <a title=\"Iranian Commercial Flights Resume to Iraq\u2019s Najaf After US Sanctions Waiver\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/iranian-commercial-flights-resume-to-iraqs-najaf-after-us-sanctions-waiver\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Iranian Commercial Flights Resume to Iraq\u2019s Najaf After US Sanctions Waiver\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions\/179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gugudde.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}