• Iraqi Airways has resumed flights between Najaf and Iran following efforts led by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and protests against the decision to suspend Iranian flights.

Iran-aligned Kataib Hezbollah demands Iraq end ‘air blockade’ on Iran

Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq, has warned it will shoot down “hostile” aircraft violating Iraqi airspace as the US-led military coalition completes its withdrawal from Iraq this week.

Kataib Hezbollah was formed in the mid-2000s. It is part of an umbrella group of Iraqi Shia militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.

“We will warn at first and then we will shoot them down,” Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, an official with Kataib Hezbollah, said in a statement.

The coalition has a deadline of Wednesday to end its mission. Iraqi authorities said US-led forces have begun withdrawing from a base in Erbil in northern Iraq.

Al-Assaf also demanded that Baghdad end the “air blockade” on Iran after Thursday, threatening measures that included closing border crossings. Iraq suspended commercial flights to and from Iran on Friday after the US sanctioned Iranian airlines.

Iraqi Airways to resume Iran flights in October after securing sanctions exemption

Iraqi Airways plans to restart flights to Iran in October after obtaining a special exemption, according to the country’s Transport Ministry, following US sanctions that had restricted services to Iranian airlines.

According to state Iraqi News Agency, Iraqi Airways had already resumed flights between Najaf and Iranian airports on Monday

Addressing earlier disruptions, the Iraqi ambassador to Iran, Yasser Abdul-Zahra Al-Hajjaj, told INA “the government had not issued any decision to halt flights with Iran; rather, foreign ground-handling companies had refrained from providing services due to fears of US sanctions”.

Iraqi defence ministry spokesperson: US-led coalition forces are out of Iraq

A spokesperson for Iraq’s defense ministry has said that no US-led international coalition forces remain in Iraq, one day before the Iraqi government said the coalition’s withdrawal was due to be complete.

The defense ministry spokesperson said the coalition forces had provided substantial air support to battle ISIL forces in the country and that Iraq’s relationship with the US-led coalition would continue in other ways.

The spokesperson said Iraqi forces are capable of defending the country’s sovereignty.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia claimed an attack targeting its East-West pipeline originated from Iraqi territory. Iraq’s government condemned the attack and ordered an investigation into the incident.