Washington, DC, Aug. 5 (ANI): The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has removed Iraqi commercial airline Fly Baghdad and two of its passenger aircraft from its Specially Designated Nationals list after previously targeting the carrier over alleged links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
According to an official update on the Treasury Department’s website, OFAC removed the aviation company from the sanctions list under its three registered corporate designations: Fly Baghdad Airlines Company, Fly Baghdad, and Iraq Express.
The agency also removed two Boeing 737 aircraft operated by the airline, identified by tail numbers YI-BAF and YI-BAN, from the sanctions register.
The U.S. Treasury Department did not provide an official explanation for the decision.
The move, however, does not represent a complete removal of sanctions connected to the airline. Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan Al-Shabbani, an Iraqi national identified as the airline’s owner in the original sanctions listing, remains under U.S. sanctions.
Authorities amended Al-Shabbani’s designation to directly link him to the IRGC’s Quds Force, the elite foreign operations branch of Iran’s military organization, rather than referencing his association with Fly Baghdad.
The United States initially sanctioned Fly Baghdad, its aircraft, and its principal executive in January 2024, alleging that the airline had provided logistical support to the IRGC-Quds Force and affiliated groups operating in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.
The latest administrative action comes less than a week after U.S. authorities imposed new sanctions targeting international networks accused of supporting Iran’s Mahan Air, which Washington has said is connected to the IRGC.
Although the U.S. government has not publicly connected the decision to broader regional diplomatic efforts, the removal of the sanctions indicates a possible shift in Washington’s approach toward certain aviation entities previously associated with Iran-linked networks. (ANI)
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