US removes sanctions from three IRGC-linked entities, Treasury website shows

Washington, DC: The United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has removed Iraqi commercial carrier Fly Baghdad and two of its passenger aircraft from its Specially Designated Nationals list, after previously targeting the airline over suspected links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In an official update on its website, OFAC delisted the capital-based aviation entity across its three registered corporate designations: Fly Baghdad Airlines Company, Fly Baghdad, and Iraq Express.

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Additionally, two Boeing 737 commercial jets operated by the carrier, bearing tail identifiers YI-BAF and YI-BAN, were removed from the sanctions register.

The US Treasury Department offered no formal rationale for the decision.

The move, however, does not represent a full rollback of sanctions associated with the entity. Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan Al-Shabbani, an Iraqi national named as the airline's owner in the original listing, remains under active US sanctions.

Authorities amended Al-Shabbani's entry on the blacklist so that his legal designation now directly points to the IRGC's elite foreign wing, the Quds Force, rather than referencing Fly Baghdad.

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Washington originally penalised the 2014-founded airline, its fleet assets, and its principal executive in January 2024, asserting that the carrier facilitated logistical support to the IRGC-Quds Force and allied networks across Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

This administrative action follows less than a week after US authorities enacted fresh sanctions aimed at international networks accused of assisting Iran's Mahan Air, an entity Washington maintains is connected to the IRGC.

While the US government has not publicly linked the move to broader regional diplomatic initiatives, the latest removals point to an evolving posture by Washington towards select aviation entities tied to Tehran.