US Treasury removes Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad from sanctions list

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Wednesday that it has removed Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad from the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list. The company is also known as Iraq Express. The Treasury said sanctions were also lifted on Beshir Abdul Qazim Ulwan, who is linked to the airline. No further details on the individual or the timing of the original designation were provided in the announcement. Fly Baghdad was placed on the sanctions list in 2024 on allegations that it supported Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force. According to the Treasury, the airline transported military equipment and personnel for the IRGC and affiliated groups in the region. The Treasury had also alleged that flights to Damascus International Airport were used to deliver weapons to the IRGC, the Quds Force and allied militias in Syria. Items cited in the listing included Iranian-made Fateh, Zulfiqar and Fajr missiles, AK-47 rifles, RPG-7 rocket launchers, grenades and various machine guns. The Syrian Arab Republican Army, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades were also included in the original sanctions package.