New U.S. Sanctions Cripple Iranian International Flights

Iranian airlines have been forced to cancel the majority of their flights out of the country after a new US sanctions package came into effect targeting Iran's aviation sector. According to a report by Deutsche Welle in Arabic, the new restrictions have directly affected the ability of Iranian companies to operate their international flights, forcing them to significantly reduce their schedules.

As a result of the suspension of these flights, a large number of Iraqi travellers found themselves stranded, with many resorting to land border crossings between the two countries as an alternative to air travel. This sudden shift in the mode of transport led to noticeable overcrowding at border crossing points, amid logistical difficulties faced by stranded passengers.

It is not yet clear how long these measures will last, nor the extent of the full impact on travel between Iraq and Iran in the long term. Iranian airlines or Iraqi officials have not issued a detailed official comment on alternative plans to accommodate the numbers of affected passengers.

These sanctions come in the context of a broader US escalation towards Iran's various economic sectors, amid expected repercussions on air and commercial transport in the region, especially for neighboring countries that have direct travel and trade ties with Iran, such as Iraq.