Iranian airlines are losing access to airports across the region as new U.S. sanctions take effect. Iraq has halted flights at four airports, but is already asking Washington for an exemption to bring some of them back.
This is the first major aviation consequence of Washington’s latest sanctions campaign against Iran. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned additional Iranian airlines and companies supporting them earlier this month, then warned foreign businesses of the consequences of continuing to work with sanctioned carriers.
While the United States has not closed every country’s airspace to Iranian aircraft nor issued a blanket suspension of every airline flying to Iran (it has no power to do this), an Iranian carrier cannot operate an international flight if the airport or companies handling its aircraft will no longer provide the necessary services. That is how the latest U.S. sanctions seeks to influence policy far beyond U.S. borders.
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