New US sanctions anger Parliament and threaten the security of Iraqi airports

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[size=52]New US sanctions anger Parliament and threaten the security of Iraqi airports[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]The news of a car “sliding” in Lebanon 5 months ago that was loaded with weapons did not arouse the attention of the Iraqi interior until the issue of the Fly Baghdad airline company exploded. What is the relationship between the two incidents?[/size]
[size=45]In leaks about the US Treasury’s motives for recently issuing sanctions on “Fly Baghdad,” which is believed to be affiliated with Shiite parties, these sanctions are being linked to the “Lebanon incident.”[/size]
[size=45]This is the first time after 2003 that the United States has placed an airline on the blacklist, due to the latter’s involvement in arms transfers, according to the American narrative.[/size]
[size=45]It is also the first time that sanctions have been issued against a current member of parliament, Hussein Moanis, head of the Kataib Hezbollah (Rights) bloc.[/size]
[size=45]So far, the government has not announced any measures regarding the status of “Fly Baghdad,” which was included in the sanctions, and which it said would “resort to the judiciary” and “demand compensation” against the American decision.[/size]
[size=45]The sanctions caused chaos at airports, and passengers criticized the company for suddenly canceling their flights and crowding them at the airport. Iraqi leaks say that the Fly Baghdad scandal was revealed last August, when a small truck skidded in Lebanon.[/size]
[size=45]At that time, a clash took place in an area in eastern Beirut between residents and civilian guards who rushed to protect the car that overturned on the road and appeared to be carrying weapons. According to the leaks, the weapons were “American and smuggled from Iraq to Hezbollah via Fly Baghdad,” while this news has not been confirmed from official sources.[/size]
[size=45]In the Lebanon incident, Prime Minister Najib Mikati intervened and called on everyone to “exercise wisdom and calm.” The army was also deployed at the time to prevent the clashes from developing.[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, “Fly Baghdad” company denounced the US Treasury’s decision, announcing that it would resort to “the legal path to demand material and moral compensation.”[/size]
[size=45]The US Treasury Department had included the company and its CEO, Bashir Abdul Kazem, on its sanctions list for “providing assistance” to the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.[/size]
[size=45]The US Treasury noted that “Fly Baghdad” supported “the operations of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its agents by delivering equipment and personnel throughout the region.”[/size]
[size=45]The Treasury noted that the company “delivered arms shipments to Damascus International Airport in Syria,” for transfer to “the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, and Iranian-allied militias on the ground in Syria, including the Syrian Republican Guard, Lebanese Hezbollah, and Kataib Hezbollah.”[/size]
[size=45]“Fly Baghdad,” in turn, said that it “denounces this decision as it is not based on any material or moral evidence that could convict the company,” noting that it “has worked for years under the direct supervision of the Iraqi government, represented by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Transport. It is also the only member of the IATA organization in Iraq". It pointed out that all its operations “are under the supervision of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority and all authorities in the region, as it carries out its daily flights and is subject to focused inspection at all airports.”[/size]
[size=45]“Fly Baghdad” demanded that the US Treasury provide “any material evidence that could condemn the company or its management,” warning that it would resort to “the legal path to demand material and moral compensation, as it is clear that the decision was based on misleading and unreal information and cannot withstand the the law".[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, tweeters on the Among the comments on the decision, tweeters published information that the real owner of “Fly Baghdad” is close to the Dawa Party.[/size]
[size=45]The US Ambassador to Baghdad, Alina Romanowski, said that Iran’s use of an Iraqi airline to “smuggle weapons, fighters, and dollars” represents “a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.”[/size]
[size=45]She added in a tweet on the X platform that this decision confirms “the United States’ determination to confront the ongoing threat posed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its loyal network in Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, Ihsan Al-Shammari, the academic and head of the Center for Political Thinking, said in an interview with (Al-Mada), commenting on the recent sanctions that they “mean that the United States is still monitoring the activity of the factions and all those who cooperate with them from institutions, whether official or unofficial.”[/size]
[size=45]He added: “The sanctions also mean that they are an indication that the United States continues to undermine Iranian influence in Iraq at a time when Iraqi parties continue to work against Washington despite government and international warnings.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shammari, a professor of international politics at the University of Baghdad, confirmed that “the current government and previous governments are unable to stop the activity of the factions, which forced the United States to intervene,” noting that these sanctions “will affect the government and Parliament, especially with the increase in the area of ​​those covered by those sanctions,” and the most recent of them was Representative Hussein. sociable.[/size]
[size=45]The Parliament’s Finance Committee, of which Mu’nis is a member, “strongly criticized” the US Treasury’s inclusion of the MP in the list of economic sanctions, calling this measure “a blatant and arbitrary transgression not justified by any logical justification.”[/size]
[size=45]The committee said in a statement, “Including the name of Representative Hussein Mu’nis on the economic sanctions list is a gross violation of transparency and a lack of clarity in the policies taken by the American government towards patriotic Iraqi figures.”[/size]
[size=45]The committee called on “the US Treasury to provide conclusive evidence and honest evidence that sheds light on the reasons that led to the decision to include the name of Representative Hussein Mu’nis on the sanctions list, and to understand the justifications behind this unjust measure.”[/size]
[size=45]The committee added that it “renews its full support for Representative Hussein Mu’nis, and expresses its strong denunciation of any external interference that conflicts with Iraq’s sovereignty and harms its national figures.”[/size]
[size=45]The US Treasury Department included three leaders affiliated with the Hezbollah Brigades, which the ministry accuses of supporting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Iraq, on the sanctions list. Ihsan Al-Shammari believes that these sanctions “will disrupt communication between the institutions and entities covered by the sanctions, and will also affect the work of airports and re-arrange security priorities at Iraq’s airports.”[/size]
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