Shafaq News- Baghdad
The Iran-aligned Kataib Hezbollah* on Thursday called on Iraqis to break “the US siege on Iran,” a day after US sanctions on Iran's civil aviation sector took effect.
The faction urged Iraqis to "break this siege by every possible means" in support of Iran, by buying Iranian products, encouraging trade with Iran and refusing to take part in any activity that deepens Iranians' hardship, according to a statement.
The group also asked Shiite religious authorities, known as marja’ia, to issue a ruling on whether it is religiously permissible “to help the enemy, in any form, besiege and starve the Iranian people.”
It accused unnamed Iraqi politicians of “cowardice and hypocrisy for staying silent,” adding that companies that complied with “the unjust US and Israeli decisions had traded their dignity for limited gains and helped tighten the pressure on a neighboring country.”
Kataib Hezbollah said Washington had turned to economic pressure after failing to break Iran militarily. It drew a line from the fate of Native Americans to the UN sanctions imposed on Iraq in the 1990s after it invaded Kuwait, and to measures it said now target Palestinians, Yemenis and Iranians through asset freezes, sanctions, airspace restrictions and border closures.
The United States sanctioned 27 Iranian airlines on Sept. 8, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later warning that the carriers would effectively be shut out of international operations from Wednesday as companies providing them with fuel, landing services or ticket sales risk US penalties.
According to sources, Baghdad International Airport has since suspended all flights to and from Iran, while Najaf International Airport continues to handle them. Turkiye and China also continue to operate flights to Iran.
Aziz al-Tamimi, managing director of Aviation for All, told Shafaq News that Iranian carriers operate about 50 flights a day to Iraq, with the restrictions affecting Iraqi tourists, students, medical patients, businesspeople and Iraqis living in Iran.
Tehran warned regional countries against joining US efforts to restrict Iranian aviation, saying that preventing the country’s aircraft from operating would leave their own airports unable to run flights.
*Kataib Hezbollah is designated a terrorist organization by the United States. Its political wing, the Hoqooq Movement, holds six of the 329 seats in Iraq's parliament after the November 2025 election and belongs to the Coordination Framework, the alliance of Shiite parties that dominates parliament.