US Changing Course? Three Entities Removed from Iran Sanctions List
The US Treasury Department has removed Fly Baghdad and two Boeing 737 aircraft from its sanctions list without public explanation. However, the company's CEO remains sanctioned and is now directly linked to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The US Department of the Treasury removed the Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and two of its aircraft from the list of entities subject to sanctions for supporting terrorism on Wednesday. The move was published in an official document from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which consolidates changes to the US list of blocked persons and entities. It should be noted that this move constitutes a targeted relief measure concerning the airline and its two aircraft, rather than a cancellation of sanctions against its senior officials or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
According to the document, three entries were deleted from the list: Fly Baghdad, Fly Baghdad Airlines Company, and Iraq Express. These are not three separate airlines, but rather three names and registrations for the same Iraqi company. Simultaneously, two Boeing 737 aircraft operated by the company, with tail numbers YI-BAF and YI-BAN, were removed from the list.
Fly Baghdad was added to the sanctions list in January 2024. The Treasury Department claimed at the time that the company provided material assistance to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and to pro-Iranian organizations in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. According to the original US announcement, the company's aircraft were used to transport fighters, funds, and weaponry, including Iranian-made missiles, rifles, and rocket launchers. The two aircraft removed today were previously defined as blocked property in which the company held an interest.
No explanation was provided in today's document for the decision to remove the company and the aircraft, and no separate announcement detailing a change in US policy toward Iran or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been published at this stage. The company's CEO, Bashir Abd al-Kadhim Alwan al-Shabani, was not removed from the list. OFAC updated his entry so that he is now linked directly to the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, rather than to Fly Baghdad. Consequently, this move is a targeted relief measure and does not represent a lifting of sanctions against the company's leadership or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
