Iraqi Airways plans to resume flights to Iran in October after securing a special exemption, Iraq’s Transport Ministry said, following US sanctions that had restricted services involving Iranian airlines, The Caspian Post reports, citing Al Jazeera.

Iraqi Airways had already restarted flights between the Iraqi city of Najaf and Iranian airports on Monday.

Addressing previous disruptions, Iraq’s ambassador to Iran, Yasser Abdul-Zahra Al-Hajjaj, said the Iraqi government had not made any decision to suspend flights with Iran.

“The government had not issued any decision to halt flights with Iran; rather, foreign ground-handling companies had refrained from providing services due to fears of US sanctions,” he said.