US removes sanctions from three IRGC-linked entities

The U.S. Treasury Department has lifted counterterrorism sanctions on Iraqi carrier Fly Baghdad and two of its aircraft, previously designated over ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Deletions posted to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Specially Designated Nationals list removed the Baghdad-based airline under all three of its registered names: Fly Baghdad Airlines Company, Fly Baghdad and Iraq Express. Founded in 2014, the passenger carrier had been designated for links to the IRGC-Qods Force. Two Boeing 737s it operates, tail numbers YI-BAF and YI-BAN, were delisted as well.

The action does not clear everyone tied to the airline. Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan Al-Shabbani, an Iraqi national, remains sanctioned, his entry amended so his designation now links directly to the IRGC-Qods Force rather than to Fly Baghdad.

Treasury offered no explanation for the decision.