Iran fumes as US sanctions stop flights to holy city in Iraq

Iran erupted in fury on Friday following US sanctions on air travel that have halted a route to Najaf, a revered Shiite city in Iraq. The Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation announced that ticket sales to Najaf had been halted due to the impact of the US sanctions spreading throughout the Middle East. The Iranian consulate in the city voiced its indignation at the ban via X, stating, "Najaf International Airport, the shrine of the first Imam of the Shiites and the capital of their last Imam, is closed to the largest Shiite nation on Earth?"

Najaf houses the Shrine of Imam Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed. In June, Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's coffin passed through the city during a funeral procession. Flights to Baghdad were halted on Wednesday, but Iranian state media had earlier claimed that the route to Najaf would remain operational.

The sanctions are part of the US strategy to economically isolate Iran and compel concessions in the ongoing conflict. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent informed on Monday that entities dealing with Iranian airlines would be "struck from the dollar system." In response to the sanctions, the United Arab Emirates suspended all flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from Iran until further notice. Additionally, flights between Iran and Oman have been affected.