BAGHDAD -- Iraq’s Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba on Wednesday condemned Baghdad’s decision to suspend Iranian flights as submission to U.S. bullying, as the Iraqi government scrambled to secure a one-month U.S. Treasury exemption just to allow its national carrier to operate civilian passenger flights to Iran.
Sheikh Ali al-Asadi, head of the political bureau of the Iraqi resistance group, said the decision by Iraqi officials to prevent Iranian aircraft from landing in Iraq is “regrettable” and demanded it be reversed.
“Iraq should not submit to an irresponsible U.S. decision,” al-Asadi said, stressing that the issue goes beyond airports given the close ties between Iraq and Iran.
He warned that “all possibilities are on the table,” calling on the government to retract the decision. “Otherwise, popular mobilization and pressure will emerge to change this decision.”
Al-Asadi urged Iraqi officials to follow the example of other countries that refuse to implement every U.S. decision, linking the ban to weakness in Iraq’s domestic political scene that has allowed Washington to impose its will on Baghdad.
The remarks came as Iraqi Airways prepares to resume flights to Iran in October after obtaining a special exemption. The waiver, provided by the U.S. Treasury, will run for just one month, with the number of allowed flights not yet determined, according to a source in the Iraqi transport ministry.
Iraq suspended Iranian flights following new U.S. sanctions targeting Iran’s aviation sector, with Washington
 threatening measures against companies providing services to Iranian airlines.
The decision has sparked widespread protests across Iraq. Demonstrators in the southern city of Basra gathered along the Shatt al-Arab river, waving Iranian flags and chanting: “We must not be subservient to the United States. If Iranian flights do not resume, no other aircraft should be allowed to land either.”
Protests also spread to Baghdad, Najaf, Karbala, and Nasiriyah, where dozens gathered on the corniche to reject the airport closures.
In Najaf, religious scholars and residents issued a 
statement demanding the immediate reversal of the ban, declaring they would not allow anyone to prevent pilgrims from visiting the holy shrines.
Sayyed Ammar al-Hakim, leader of Iraq’s National Wisdom Movement, expressed solidarity with the Iranian people. 
“We stand with the Iranian people against sanctions and try to protect the Iraqi people from these sanctions,” al-Hakim said in an interview with Al-Iraqiya television.
He noted that the Iraqi people have suffered greatly from sanctions over past decades, adding that Iraq’s relationship with Iran is “distinguished and prominent.”  
Al-Hakim also revealed that official U.S. letters had warned Iraq of sanctions if it failed to comply with the U.S. Treasury’s decisions regarding Iran. 
“The messages were completely clear and explicit,” he said, adding that Iraq seeks to balance “the requirements of protecting the country with considering public sentiment”.
He praised the end of the international coalition’s mission in Iraq, calling it “a message of Iraq’s recovery and restoration”.
Al-Asadi, however, revealed information about a unit formed with Iraqi government participation under U.S. supervision, describing it as being created for “assassinations and incitement,” comparing it to Blackwater under another name.
“We know where this unit is based and what its duties will be in the next stage,” he said, adding that all its activities are being monitored. 
He described U.S. activities in Iraq as “suspicious,” maintaining that American security companies have entered the country to compensate for the U.S. military withdrawal.
On the contentious issue of weapons, al-Asadi said discussions with the Coordination Framework had led them to reject the term “monopoly of weapons,” changing it to “organization of weapons” because the previous term “is harmful and creates unnecessary tensions”.
“We have not the slightest trust in the Americans because they do not respect their promises,” he said, referring to the U.S. attack on Iran during negotiations. 
He revealed that the U.S. charge d’affaires had attempted to communicate through a political figure, and other Washington-aligned envoys sent messages expressing a desire for negotiations—all conditional on abandoning strategic weapons capable of targeting Israel. All offers were firmly rejected.
The al-Zaidi government has offered safeguards including passenger screening and information sharing, as well as measures to prevent the flights being used to transport weapons, sanctioned individuals or illicit money, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The transport ministry said services next month would initially operate from the holy city of Najaf once regulatory and technical requirements were completed.