Iran's football team's plane returns after entry denied in Iraq due to US sanctions

An Iranian national soccer team player arrives at a hotel after travelling overland from Iran

Iraq barred a plane carrying Iran’s national football team from landing at Basra airport on Tuesday, citing concerns over US sanctions imposed on Iranian airlines, two Basra airport officials told Reuters.The aircraft returned to Iran and landed at Abadan airport. The team then travelled by road to Basra.The team then took a bus and entered Iraq through the Shalamcheh border crossing.The Iranian team was travelling to Basra to take part in a four-nation football tournament featuring Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine.An Iraqi civil aviation official told Reuters that the decision was taken because the country could not risk violating US sanctions on Iranian airlines.

US sanctions affect Iranian aviation operations

The incident comes as Washington steps up restrictions on Iran’s aviation sector. The United States announced sanctions on global companies doing business with Iranian airlines after September 23, aiming to ground Iran’s entire civilian aircraft fleet worldwide.Iraq had also ordered the suspension of Iranian flights to Baghdad airport in September, after the US threatened secondary sanctions against airports and service providers handling Iranian carriers.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent had warned that airports providing services to Iranian airlines could themselves face sanctions, including exclusion from the US dollar system.The warning was part of a wider US effort to tighten restrictions on Iran’s transport sector and target foreign entities providing services to airlines under sanctions.The decision to prevent the Iranian team’s aircraft from landing at Basra reflects the restrictions’ impact on Iranian flights operating to and through Iraq.