Iraq Civil Aviation announces international sanctions to be lifted soon

The Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) confirmed on Monday that the international sanctions will be lifted soon as it is working to pass the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) global safety audit test, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The spokesperson of the ICAA, Jihad Al-Diwan, mentioned in a statement that Iraq is among five countries that have not passed the ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP).

Al-Diwan elaborated that the ICAA is working to pass the test which will be in several stages, according to INA.

Al-Diwan explained that Iraq passed about 75 percent of the test and audit in 2019, and confirmed that Iraq will pass the remainder of the test in the near future to have the international sanctions lifted.

A ban was imposed on Iraqi flights since the nineties and continued until 2009.

However, violations against the Iraqi flights were recorded again in 2012, and the Iraqi flights were officially and permanently banned from flying in the European airspace in 2015.

The decision to lift the ban is linked to several requirements, such as linking Iraq with ICAO’s Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP). iraqinews.com