Iraq bars Iranian football team’s plane from landing in Basra: Report

The plane returned to Iran and landed ⁠at Abadan airport, and the team will now travel by road to Basra, an Iranian consulate official in Basra said. The Iranian team was travelling to Iraq to participate in a ‌four-nation tournament in Basra also involving Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. An Iraqi civil aviation official said Iraq made the decision because it could not risk violating US sanctions on Iranian airlines.

Washington announced sanctions on any global companies doing business with Iranian airlines after September 23, aiming to ground Iran’s entire civil fleet worldwide. In September, Iraq ordered the suspension of Iranian flights to Baghdad airport after the US threatened secondary sanctions against airports and service providers that handle Iranian carriers. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that airports servicing Iranian airlines could face sanctions, including exclusion from the US ‌dollar system.

This warning was part of a broader effort to tighten restrictions on Iran’s transport sector and on ‌foreign ‌entities providing services to sanctioned Iranian airlines.