Iraq barred a plane carrying Iran's national soccer team from landing at Basra airport on Tuesday, a decision by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority linked to United States sanctions imposed on Iranian airlines, two Basra airport officials told Reuters.

Source: Reuters via The Business Standard

The plane returned to Iran and landed at Abadan airport, and the team will now travel overland to Basra, an Iranian consulate official in Basra said, according to the same Reuters report.

The Iranian team was travelling to Iraq to take part in a four-nation tournament in Basra also involving Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. The landing refusal turned a short regional flight into a road journey for the squad.

Why Iraq said it could not take the risk

An Iraqi civil aviation official said Iraq made the decision because it could not risk violating US sanctions on Iranian airlines. The incident highlights the increasing impact of US sanctions on Iranian aviation operations in Iraq, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse

Washington had announced sanctions on any global companies doing business with Iranian airlines after September 23, with the aim of grounding Iran's entire civil fleet worldwide. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that airports servicing Iranian airlines could face sanctions, including exclusion from the US dollar system.

Iraq had already moved in the same direction in September, when it ordered the suspension of Iranian flights to Baghdad airport after the United States threatened secondary sanctions against airports and service providers that handle Iranian carriers.

A sanctions dispute lands on a football team

The Basra refusal shows how the US economic campaign against Iran now reaches ordinary regional travel and sport: a neighbouring country's aviation authority, fearing dollar-system penalties, turned back the national team of its neighbour even though the flight was for a friendly regional tournament.

There was no immediate report of the tournament schedule changing. The Iranian side's plan, per the consulate official cited by Reuters, is for the team to complete the journey to Basra by road from Abadan.