US Treasury sanctions Fly Baghdad for alleged weapons shipments to IRGC in Syria 

The United States Department of Treasury, on Monday, 22 January, announced sanctions on Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad and several members of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah Iraqi militia for allegedly assisting Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria and Lebanon. 

The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in a statement, said that Fly Baghdad, along with its CEO Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, was designated for supporting the operations of the IRGC-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and its proxies in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

"For several years, Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad has supported the operations of the IRGC-QF and its proxies by delivering materiel and personnel throughout the region," OFAC statement said.

"Fly Baghdad flights have delivered shipments of weapons to Damascus International Airport in Syria for transfer to members of the IRGC-QF and Iran-aligned militia groups on the ground in Syria, including the Syrian Arab Republican Guard, Lebanese Hizballah, KH, and the KH-affiliated Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade," reads the statement. "Fly Baghdad has delivered to these groups operating in Syria a range of weapons, including Iranian-made Fateh, Zulfiqar, and al-Fajr series missiles, as well as AK-47s, RPG-7s, and other grenades and machine guns."

Fly Baghdad, in a statement on its formal account on the X platform, denounced the US decision and stressed that "it is not based on any material or moral evidence that could convict the company."

The company also said that it would seek compensation for losses arising from the sanctions via taking legal measures. It also emphasised that the decision was "based on misleading and false information and cannot stand before the law."

According to the information obtained by The New Arab from a close source to the ruling Iraqi elites, Fly Baghdad is owned by influential Iraqi Shia cleric Ammar Al-Hakim, leader of the National Wisdom Movement.

Fahd Al-Juburi, a leader in the National Wisdom Movement, speaking to Iraqi UTV, denied Al-Hakim had anything to do with the Fly Baghdad company. 

The Central Bank of Iraq has frozen the accounts of Fly Baghdad Airlines in three major banks in response to the American Treasury sanctions, according to Iraqi local media outlets. 

Today @USTreasury designated Iraqi airline FlyBaghdad and three Kata’ib Hizballah members for providing support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Today’s action underscores our willingness to respond to the ongoing…

— Ambassador Alina L. Romanowski (@USAmbIraq) January 22, 2024

"Today's action underscores our willingness to respond to the ongoing threat the IRGC and its proxy network pose to Iraq. Iran's use of an Iraqi airline for weapons, fighters, and US dollar smuggling is an egregious violation of Iraqi sovereignty," the US Ambassador to Iraq Alina L. Romanowski wrote on the X platform soon after the Treasury Department announced the sanctions.  

Al-Hakim on Monday met with Romanowski, and both stressed the significance of upholding security and stability in the region, enhancing strategic relations between the US and Iraq, and ensuring the provision of humanitarian assistance to the residents of Gaza.

"We underscored the importance of concluding the tasks of the international coalition and transitioning to a bilateral relationship between the two countries. We stated that ISIS is no longer a military threat but poses a limited security threat," Hakim wrote. 

The US Department of the Treasury additionally identified individuals for sanctions, including Hossein Moanes, a senior member of Kataib Hezbollah and a member of the Iraqi parliament, Riyad Ali Hussein al-Azzawi, a specialist in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and an engineer affiliated with the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), and Awqad Muhsin Faraj al-Hamidawi for being involved in directing the business operations and financial aspects of Kataib Hezbollah.

Al-Massal, a travel company, also faced sanctions on the basis that it was utilized by Kataib Hezbollah for revenue generation and money laundering.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iranian-backed militias, has launched strikes against bases housing US forces in Iraq and Syria since Israel launched a brutal war on Gaza last October. 

The group claims that these strikes are in retaliation for Washington's support of Israel in its war on Gaza and that its objective is to compel the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

Iraqi militias and political parties aligned with Tehran have also been insisting that the Iraqi government should set out a clear timetable for the withdrawal of all US and coalition troops from Iraq.