The image shows a Fly Baghdad Airlines aircraft. Photo: bne IntelliNews.
The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) lifted sanctions on Iraq’s Fly Baghdad Airlines and two of its aircraft on 5 August, clearing a carrier Washington had blacklisted in January 2024 over alleged support for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.
The Baghdad-based carrier was delisted from the Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) list under each of its three registered names, Fly Baghdad Airlines Company, Fly Baghdad, and Iraq Express.
Two Boeing 737 aircraft flown by the airline, carrying the tail numbers YI-BAF and YI-BAN, were removed from the list at the same time.
A US Treasury official, who spoke anonymously, told AFP that the airline had cleared the department’s administrative reconsideration process.
“FBA (Fly Baghdad Airlines) has demonstrated major changes to their operations such that their listing is no longer warranted,” the official said.
The same official said the delisting is “not indicative of any shift in US policy toward the Government of Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force, any designated terrorist organization, or any person who supports or acts on behalf of any of these.”
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Not every restriction tied to the airline has been dropped. Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, the Iraqi national identified as the company’s owner when the sanctions were first imposed, remains blacklisted.
His entry was rewritten so that the designation now cites the IRGC Quds Force directly instead of Fly Baghdad.
Washington first designated the airline, its aircraft, and its owner in January 2024, alleging the company supported Iran’s Quds Force and allied groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
The delisting comes amid a broader US sanctions campaign that continues to target Iran’s IRGC-linked logistics and aviation networks.
Just last week, Washington sanctioned entities tied to Mahan Air, which it alleges helps move weapons, personnel and equipment for the IRGC Quds Force.
The action also hit support firms in China, India and Russia that Treasury says served as the airline’s sales agents and logistics intermediaries.
