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Conflict & Security36 outlets ran this3 min read

US lifts sanctions on Fly Baghdad airline linked to Iran's IRGC-Quds Force

The Treasury removed restrictions on the Iraqi carrier and two aircraft after administrative review, while keeping sanctions on its owner

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
An employee enters the headquarters of the Iraqi airline Fly Baghdad at Baghdad's International Airport on Jan 23, 2024. (Photo: AFP/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

What this story says

  • The US Treasury removed sanctions on Fly Baghdad airline and two aircraft on 3 August 2026, following an administrative reconsideration process.
  • Sanctions on the airline’s owner, Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, remain in place, as reported by Channel News Asia.
  • The Treasury stated the decision was not a shift in US policy toward Iran or the IRGC-Quds Force, according to an unnamed official.
  • Fly Baghdad was originally sanctioned in January 2024 over alleged support for the IRGC-Quds Force and its proxy groups.

Who covered it

Left 25%(5)Centre 25%(5)Right 50%(10)

Percentages are shares of the 20 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 16 of the 36 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

55/100

Hype

15/100

36 sources · methodology

The US Treasury lifted sanctions on Fly Baghdad, an Iraqi airline, and two of its aircraft on 3 August 2026. The airline had been sanctioned in January 2024 over allegations it provided support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-Quds Force) and its proxy groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Fly Baghdad had denied the accusations at the time.

The Treasury’s decision followed an administrative reconsideration process, as stated by an unnamed US official to Agence France-Presse (AFP). The official said Fly Baghdad had demonstrated "major changes to their operations" that made its listing no longer warranted. Sanctions on the airline’s owner, Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, were not lifted. The Treasury clarified the removal was not a change in US policy toward Iran, the IRGC-Quds Force or any designated terrorist organisation.

What the coverage left out

No left- or right-rated outlet ran this story at all. The only report published, by Channel News Asia, did not specify what operational changes Fly Baghdad had made to warrant the lifting of sanctions.

Tags:#USIranRelations#MiddleEastSanctions#IRGCQudsForce#IraqiAirlines#FlyBaghdad

Coverage settled. We checked this 9 times and stopped on 11 Aug 2026, 03:31. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

5 rated outlets

  • The reports agree that the US removed sanctions on Fly Baghdad airline, which had been designated for ties to Iran’s IRGC-Quds Force. Both note the airline and two of its Boeing 737 aircraft were taken off the sanctions list on 29 July 2026.
  • Cumhuriyet led on the removal of the airline and aircraft from the sanctions list, quoting the US Treasury’s statement. It reported that the CEO, Beşir Abdulkadim Alvan eş-Şabbani, remained sanctioned but the reason given for his designation was updated to cite IRGC-Quds Force links. The digest of Vanguard News did not mention the CEO or the aircraft.
  • Cumhuriyet included the US Treasury’s original justification for the sanctions: Fly Baghdad’s connection to the IRGC-Quds Force. The Vanguard News digest did not carry this detail.

Centre

5 rated outlets

  • Channel News Asia, the only outlet to publish a full report, led on the Treasury’s decision to lift sanctions on Fly Baghdad and two of its aircraft. The report included the airline’s denial of the original allegations and the Treasury’s statement that the removal was not a policy shift. It also noted the maintenance of sanctions on the airline’s owner, Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, and quoted an unnamed US Treasury official describing the operational changes that led to the decision.
  • The report contextualised the sanctions within broader US-Iran tensions, including the Trump administration’s actions against Iran’s leadership and economy, Tehran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and stalled negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme. It did not include details on what specific operational changes Fly Baghdad had made.

Right

10 rated outlets

  • The seven right-rated outlets all reported that the US Treasury removed sanctions on Fly Baghdad and two of its aircraft. They noted the airline had been designated in 2024 for links to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. All stated the delisting followed an administrative review or changes in the airline’s behaviour.
  • Five of the digests led on the IRGC-Quds Force connection. Three included the Treasury’s statement that the move did not signal a policy shift toward Iran or the IRGC. None of the digests mentioned the airline’s owner remaining under sanctions, though one carried that detail.
  • The digests did not quote Fly Baghdad or Iraqi officials. All attributed the decision to the US Treasury or its Office of Foreign Assets Control. None included a cost estimate or a timeline for the airline’s operational changes.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover US lifts sanctions on Fly Baghdad airline linked to Iran's IRGC-Quds…?
Of the 20 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 25% are rated left, 25% are rated centre, 50% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 36. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is US lifts sanctions on Fly Baghdad airline linked to Iran's IRGC-Quds… left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 20 rated outlets on this story, 25% are rated left, 25% are rated centre, 50% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of US lifts sanctions on Fly Baghdad airline linked to Iran's IRGC-Quds… biased?
US lifts sanctions on Fly Baghdad airline linked to Iran's IRGC-Quds Force is one event reported by 36 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which outlets covered US lifts sanctions on Fly Baghdad airline linked to Iran's IRGC-Quds…?
36 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Why were sanctions lifted on Fly Baghdad?
The US Treasury lifted sanctions on Fly Baghdad and two of its aircraft on 3 August 2026 after an administrative reconsideration. An unnamed official said the airline had demonstrated "major changes to their operations" that made its listing no longer warranted, as reported by Channel News Asia.
Were sanctions lifted on Fly Baghdad’s owner?
No. The US Treasury maintained sanctions on Basheer Abdulkadhim Alwan al-Shabbani, the owner of Fly Baghdad, while lifting restrictions on the airline and two of its aircraft. This was confirmed in the Treasury’s update, as reported by Channel News Asia.
Does the lifting of sanctions signal a change in US policy toward Iran?
The US Treasury stated the removal of sanctions on Fly Baghdad was not indicative of any shift in US policy toward Iran, the IRGC-Quds Force or designated terrorist organisations. This was clarified by an unnamed official, according to Channel News Asia.

Read it at the source

36 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

5

Centre

5

Right

10
Show 2 more

Not rated

16
Show 8 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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