October 3, 2026
The deal excludes Mahan Air, the statement said, welcoming US “cooperation in granting the necessary exemption.” It added that the move would ease travel for pilgrims, patients, and tourists affected by the sanctions.
“Air travel does not merely represent transportation between two airports, but rather a bridge of communication between peoples,” it added.
Najaf is the chief hub for Iranian flights into Iraq, serving Iraqi Shia pilgrims bound for Iran’s holy cities and Iranians visiting shrines in Iraq.
Iraq’s announcement came a day after Tehran called for the restrictions to be lifted.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned Washington’s “illegal and inhumane” enforcement of sanctions beyond US borders, saying they targeted Iranian trade and aviation as part of Washington's campaign to isolate Iran economically.
Prior to the ban, roughly 25 Iranian flights a day landed in Najaf and about 15 in Baghdad, according to Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad, Mohammad Kazem al-Sadegh.
“Around 12,000 to 13,000 people travel between Iran and Iraq and vice versa on Iranian airlines, which is not a small number,” he told ISNA.
A source told Reuters that keeping the ban in place risked uniting Shia followers of Iran’s supreme leader and of Iraq’s Ali al-Sistani against Baghdad, undermining US efforts to curb Iranian influence in Iraq.
Najaf airport had held out until 25 September, when it too halted Iranian flights in line with US sanctions.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that, starting 23 September, any company that fueled or serviced Iranian aircraft, or sold tickets for them, would be cut off from the dollar system.
Iran vowed to keep its international flights running in defiance of the US blockade, with Civil Aviation Organization spokesperson Majid Akhavan telling ISNA on 22 September that no flights had been canceled.
The pledge came as cancellations spread amid US pressure. Middle East Eye reported that Turkish Airlines, Pegasus, and AJet would halt all flights to and from Iran starting 21 September.
The US Treasury sanctioned 36 entities linked to Iran’s aviation sector on 8 September as part of its so-called “Operation Economic Outcast” and withdrew the clearances that allowed non-US airlines to fly US-built or US-controlled commercial jets into Iran.
Washington’s measures applied to any foreign company doing business with Iranian airlines and to firms handling aircraft at Iraqi airports. Fearing US penalties, those firms stopped serving Iranian planes.
Vice President JD Vance chaired the hours-long Friday session, attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, special envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
A similar meeting took place in June 2025, just days before Israel launched an unprovoked war on Iran. The US joined the 12-day war, bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Friday's meeting comes as Trump considers whether to resume large-scale strikes on Iran amid stalled talks.
"Now I have to make a decision: either Iran signs the deal, or it won't exist any longer," the president commented on Thursday.
Trump has said he could resume strikes after the November midterm elections if no agreement is reached.
This week, the Pentagon deployed a third aircraft carrier strike group and additional warships, with up to 10,000 troops expected to arrive in the CENTCOM area of operations by the end of November.
Saudi Arabia is also preparing a major offensive against the Ansarallah-led government in Yemen and has asked Washington to join its air campaign, Axios reported.
The US is currently providing intelligence and targeting support for Saudi operations in Yemen, while officials said Trump is considering direct US participation.
"Trump has been leaning against it, but US officials say he could change his mind," Axios wrote.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia launched a wave of airstrikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Saturday.
Residents told Xinhua that more than seven explosions were heard across Sanaa in a short period, adding that the heard warplanes overhead as the blasts shook several parts of the city.
The strikes targeted several Yemeni military sites in and around the capital, with plumes of smoke seen rising from the mountainous areas of Al-Nahdayn and Jabal Attan.
Saudi Arabia has intensified its strikes on Yemen in recent weeks.
On Friday, the Saudi Air Force launched 20 airstrikes to prevent the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) from taking control of the city of Taiz.
The YAF has liberated new territory from Saudi-backed mercenaries since major fighting resumed in early September, including the strategic coastal town of Mokha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
At the same time, smoke was seen over the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday.
NASA's FIRMS detected higher-intensity thermal activity at the Aramco refinery, while NASA Terra imagery appeared to show a large fire and thick smoke drifting across northern Riyadh.
Videos posted to social media also showed large fires burning at the Aramco facility. Saudi authorities have not commented on the cause of the fires.
Yemeni forces have targeted Saudi oil facilities before. However, the YAF has not yet claimed responsibility for a new attack on the Aramco refinery.
Saudi Arabia's oil industry has suffered since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran in February.
Iranian attacks on ships carrying Gulf oil led to the effective closing of the Strait of Hormuz and a steep fall in Saudi crude exports.
The kingdom responded by pumping additional oil to its western coast via pipeline for export through the Red Sea.
However, Yemeni forces began targeting Saudi ships transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait to exit the Red Sea starting in July, forcing the Saudis to shift crude exports to Hormuz once again.
The fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Ansarallah-led Yemeni government has resumed after a ceasefire in 2022 that paused years of fighting between the two sides as a result of the Yemeni civil war that began in 2014.
On 1 October, US officials revealed that the US has deployed the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, the USS Makin Island amphibious group, and about 9,000 troops toward West Asia, as President Donald Trump threatens renewed aggression against Iran after the 3 November midterms.
The Roosevelt group includes the cruiser USS Chosin, while the Makin Island group brings two landing ships, the USS John P. Murtha and USS Anchorage, together carrying more than 7,000 sailors, over 2,000 Marines, and F-35 fighter jets.
The new forces will add to roughly 50,000 US troops already deployed across West Asia, lifting the naval presence alone to more than 20,000 personnel and hundreds of aircraft.
The buildup could put three aircraft carriers in the region by the end of October, an official told AP, joining the USS George HW Bush and USS George Washington already operating there.
Pentagon and White House sources told Al Jazeera that the forces will stay in place regardless of where diplomacy with Tehran leads, with War Secretary Pete Hegseth saying US troops are “ready to go” if Trump orders renewed attacks.
This comes as the US has quietly sent two more Patriot missile batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to shield their oil and gas facilities, Axios reported on 2 October, a move aimed at securing Riyadh's cooperation, including access to its airspace, for any renewed assault on Iran.
In an interview with TIME, Trump said it was "possible" he would intensify the bombing of Iran after the November midterms, and said he had turned down Tehran's latest ceasefire proposal, including an offer to “open up” the Strait of Hormuz, as “not good enough.”
Eight months into the war on Iran, the deployment would mark only the second time since 2003 that three US carrier strike groups have operated in the region at once.
Trump told TIME that Washington is “stocking up at levels we've never done before,” admitting the war has outlasted his promised quick operation “only because I wanted to go further.”
US
sanctions on Iranian aviation closed a route used by about 40 Iranian flights
daily before the ban
The
office of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced on 2 October that Baghdad
has secured a narrow exemption from US sanctions on Iran’s aviation sector,
allowing Iranian airlines to resume up to 40 daily flights to Najaf
International Airport.
The deal excludes Mahan Air, the statement said, welcoming US “cooperation in granting the necessary exemption.” It added that the move would ease travel for pilgrims, patients, and tourists affected by the sanctions.
“Air travel does not merely represent transportation between two airports, but rather a bridge of communication between peoples,” it added.
Najaf is the chief hub for Iranian flights into Iraq, serving Iraqi Shia pilgrims bound for Iran’s holy cities and Iranians visiting shrines in Iraq.
Iraq’s announcement came a day after Tehran called for the restrictions to be lifted.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned Washington’s “illegal and inhumane” enforcement of sanctions beyond US borders, saying they targeted Iranian trade and aviation as part of Washington's campaign to isolate Iran economically.
Prior to the ban, roughly 25 Iranian flights a day landed in Najaf and about 15 in Baghdad, according to Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad, Mohammad Kazem al-Sadegh.
“Around 12,000 to 13,000 people travel between Iran and Iraq and vice versa on Iranian airlines, which is not a small number,” he told ISNA.
A source told Reuters that keeping the ban in place risked uniting Shia followers of Iran’s supreme leader and of Iraq’s Ali al-Sistani against Baghdad, undermining US efforts to curb Iranian influence in Iraq.
Najaf airport had held out until 25 September, when it too halted Iranian flights in line with US sanctions.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that, starting 23 September, any company that fueled or serviced Iranian aircraft, or sold tickets for them, would be cut off from the dollar system.
Iran vowed to keep its international flights running in defiance of the US blockade, with Civil Aviation Organization spokesperson Majid Akhavan telling ISNA on 22 September that no flights had been canceled.
The pledge came as cancellations spread amid US pressure. Middle East Eye reported that Turkish Airlines, Pegasus, and AJet would halt all flights to and from Iran starting 21 September.
The US Treasury sanctioned 36 entities linked to Iran’s aviation sector on 8 September as part of its so-called “Operation Economic Outcast” and withdrew the clearances that allowed non-US airlines to fly US-built or US-controlled commercial jets into Iran.
Washington’s measures applied to any foreign company doing business with Iranian airlines and to firms handling aircraft at Iraqi airports. Fearing US penalties, those firms stopped serving Iranian planes.
Saudi
forces launched a fresh wave of airstrikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on
Saturday, as fires were reported at an Aramco refinery in Riyadh
US
President Donald Trump's senior national security team held an unannounced
meeting at Camp David on 2 October to discuss renewing the war in Iran and
developments in Yemen, Axios reported, citing three US officials.Vice President JD Vance chaired the hours-long Friday session, attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, special envoy Steve Witkoff, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine.
A similar meeting took place in June 2025, just days before Israel launched an unprovoked war on Iran. The US joined the 12-day war, bombing three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Friday's meeting comes as Trump considers whether to resume large-scale strikes on Iran amid stalled talks.
"Now I have to make a decision: either Iran signs the deal, or it won't exist any longer," the president commented on Thursday.
Trump has said he could resume strikes after the November midterm elections if no agreement is reached.
This week, the Pentagon deployed a third aircraft carrier strike group and additional warships, with up to 10,000 troops expected to arrive in the CENTCOM area of operations by the end of November.
Saudi Arabia is also preparing a major offensive against the Ansarallah-led government in Yemen and has asked Washington to join its air campaign, Axios reported.
The US is currently providing intelligence and targeting support for Saudi operations in Yemen, while officials said Trump is considering direct US participation.
"Trump has been leaning against it, but US officials say he could change his mind," Axios wrote.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia launched a wave of airstrikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Saturday.
Residents told Xinhua that more than seven explosions were heard across Sanaa in a short period, adding that the heard warplanes overhead as the blasts shook several parts of the city.
The strikes targeted several Yemeni military sites in and around the capital, with plumes of smoke seen rising from the mountainous areas of Al-Nahdayn and Jabal Attan.
Saudi Arabia has intensified its strikes on Yemen in recent weeks.
On Friday, the Saudi Air Force launched 20 airstrikes to prevent the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) from taking control of the city of Taiz.
The YAF has liberated new territory from Saudi-backed mercenaries since major fighting resumed in early September, including the strategic coastal town of Mokha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
At the same time, smoke was seen over the Saudi capital Riyadh on Saturday.
NASA's FIRMS detected higher-intensity thermal activity at the Aramco refinery, while NASA Terra imagery appeared to show a large fire and thick smoke drifting across northern Riyadh.
Videos posted to social media also showed large fires burning at the Aramco facility. Saudi authorities have not commented on the cause of the fires.
Yemeni forces have targeted Saudi oil facilities before. However, the YAF has not yet claimed responsibility for a new attack on the Aramco refinery.
Saudi Arabia's oil industry has suffered since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran in February.
Iranian attacks on ships carrying Gulf oil led to the effective closing of the Strait of Hormuz and a steep fall in Saudi crude exports.
The kingdom responded by pumping additional oil to its western coast via pipeline for export through the Red Sea.
However, Yemeni forces began targeting Saudi ships transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait to exit the Red Sea starting in July, forcing the Saudis to shift crude exports to Hormuz once again.
The fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Ansarallah-led Yemeni government has resumed after a ceasefire in 2022 that paused years of fighting between the two sides as a result of the Yemeni civil war that began in 2014.
The US
President threatened to restart bombing the Islamic Republic after the November
elections
OCT 2,
2026On 1 October, US officials revealed that the US has deployed the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, the USS Makin Island amphibious group, and about 9,000 troops toward West Asia, as President Donald Trump threatens renewed aggression against Iran after the 3 November midterms.
The Roosevelt group includes the cruiser USS Chosin, while the Makin Island group brings two landing ships, the USS John P. Murtha and USS Anchorage, together carrying more than 7,000 sailors, over 2,000 Marines, and F-35 fighter jets.
The new forces will add to roughly 50,000 US troops already deployed across West Asia, lifting the naval presence alone to more than 20,000 personnel and hundreds of aircraft.
The buildup could put three aircraft carriers in the region by the end of October, an official told AP, joining the USS George HW Bush and USS George Washington already operating there.
Pentagon and White House sources told Al Jazeera that the forces will stay in place regardless of where diplomacy with Tehran leads, with War Secretary Pete Hegseth saying US troops are “ready to go” if Trump orders renewed attacks.
This comes as the US has quietly sent two more Patriot missile batteries to Saudi Arabia and Qatar to shield their oil and gas facilities, Axios reported on 2 October, a move aimed at securing Riyadh's cooperation, including access to its airspace, for any renewed assault on Iran.
In an interview with TIME, Trump said it was "possible" he would intensify the bombing of Iran after the November midterms, and said he had turned down Tehran's latest ceasefire proposal, including an offer to “open up” the Strait of Hormuz, as “not good enough.”
Eight months into the war on Iran, the deployment would mark only the second time since 2003 that three US carrier strike groups have operated in the region at once.
Trump told TIME that Washington is “stocking up at levels we've never done before,” admitting the war has outlasted his promised quick operation “only because I wanted to go further.”
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