The United Arab Emirates has grounded every flight by an Iranian airline “until further notice” — the first visible effect of a new United States sanctions policy aimed at Iran’s civil aviation fleet, FBC News reported on 25 September.
The suspension was announced on Thursday by the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority, the regulator for what the report calls the Middle East’s biggest travel hub. Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that flights had also been shut down to Oman, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, according to FBC News. Other countries in the Gulf region also appeared to have restricted flights, the report said, without naming them or describing the form those restrictions took.
For readers in Fiji the practical point is narrow but worth stating plainly, and it is set out further down: as described, the measure bites on Iranian carriers, not on the Gulf airlines that carry travellers from this part of the world.
What the UAE regulator actually said
The General Civil Aviation Authority is the body that regulates civil aviation in the United Arab Emirates. According to FBC News, it said that as a result of the new US policy it was suspending flights by Iranian airlines “until further notice.”
That phrase is the only direct quotation from any authority in the source report, and it is worth reading for what it does not contain. The regulator, on this account, set no end date, named no individual airline, gave no figure for the number of flights or passengers involved, and said nothing about rebooking or exemptions. What it did do is tie its own decision explicitly to Washington’s measure — which makes it the single strongest link in this story, because it is the authority that took the action speaking about the action it took.
The US action behind it — and the gap in the record
Washington had announced it would sanction any global company doing business with Iranian airlines after 23 September, with the stated aim of grounding Iran’s entire civil fleet worldwide, FBC News reported. The suspensions followed that date.
The mechanism matters more than the timing. On the account given in the report, the measure does not work by ordering Iran’s neighbours to close their airspace. It works at one remove, by exposing companies elsewhere — ground handlers, fuel suppliers, insurers, airport operators and the banks behind them — to US sanctions if they keep dealing with Iranian carriers. A regulator in a hub that depends on global aviation finance does not need to be instructed; it needs only to calculate. That is also why FBC News characterises the groundings as the first big impact of a shift in US policy towards targeting companies in third countries. That framing is the source’s.
The weak link is the premise itself. The FBC News report does not name the US department or agency that issued the measure, does not quote a US official and does not identify the legal instrument used, and it links to no primary notice. This desk has not seen one either, and nothing above should be read as a description of its contents. Designations of this kind are normally published by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in its recent actions list and announced through State Department press releases; those are the places to test the cause of this story against the paperwork.
The routes Tasnim reported closed
Tasnim reported that flights had also stopped to Oman, Georgia and Azerbaijan, as well as to Baghdad, FBC News said, and that Iranian authorities were working to reroute flights to a second Iraqi airport, at Najaf.
The Najaf detail is the only concrete Iranian response in the report, and it identifies the traffic Tehran was most immediately trying to protect: the report describes Najaf as a major Shi’ite Muslim religious pilgrimage site. FBC News does not say whether the rerouting had started, how many flights it would cover, or whether Iraqi authorities had agreed to it. No statement from Oman, Georgia, Azerbaijan or Iraq confirming any closure appears in the report.
What the Tehran flight board showed
Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport was still listing scheduled arrivals and departures on Thursday to and from Afghanistan, Armenia, China, Iraq, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey, according to the report. What was missing was the Gulf: FBC News said no flights appeared to be listed to or from the nearby Gulf states, with which, the report notes, Iran has long had some of its most important business and travel ties. The airport’s board is published publicly and updates in real time, so that observation can be checked directly.
How solid each claim is
Three sources sit behind this story and they are not of equal weight. The UAE suspension comes from a named government regulator quoted on its own decision. The closures involving Oman, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Baghdad, and the Najaf rerouting plan, come from Tasnim — an Iranian news agency relaying other governments’ decisions about the country it reports from. The Gulf gap on the Tehran board is an observation, consistent with the reported closures but not an explanation of them. The wider Gulf restrictions are described only as appearing to be in place; that vagueness belongs to the source. None of it has been independently verified here.
What it means for travellers from Fiji
No Fiji-facing disruption has been reported, and none should be inferred. The suspension as described applies to flights operated by Iranian airlines; it is not reported as applying to Emirati or other Gulf carriers, which are the operators Fiji-based passengers actually use to reach the Middle East, Europe and Africa on connecting itineraries. Fiji Airways’ published route map lists no Iranian or Gulf destination, so no service touching Nadi appears in the affected list.
The exposure, if any, is second-order: a traveller from Fiji bound for Iran would be flying on third-country carriers with at least one change outside the Pacific, and it is at that final leg — not on the long-haul sectors out of Nadi — that a grounded Iranian carrier would show up. Anyone holding such a ticket should check with the issuing carrier rather than assume. Fiji’s wider stake here is the same one visible in the Trump-Xi tariff truce and what it means for Fiji: measures written in Washington increasingly reach small, trade-dependent economies through third-country companies — insurers, banks, handlers — rather than through anything aimed at them directly.
Still unanswered
- No individual Iranian carrier is named, and no figure is given for flights, routes or passengers affected.
- There is no reported response from the Iranian government or from the airlines.
- No government other than the UAE is quoted confirming a suspension.
- How long the UAE suspension will run, whether stranded passengers are being rebooked and whether any carrier has sought an exemption are all unreported.
We will report further developments only as sources confirm them, and will name any additional source we are able to add.
Related coverage
For earlier reporting on decisions taken abroad that reach Fiji indirectly, see our coverage of Fiji at the United Nations ahead of pre-COP31. On aviation closer to home, we have reported separately on the advertising row at Fiji’s airport.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which countries stopped Iranian airline flights?
According to FBC News, the United Arab Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority suspended all flights by Iranian airlines until further notice. FBC News, citing Iran’s Tasnim news agency, reported that flights were also shut down to Oman, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The report said other countries in the Gulf region also appeared to have restricted flights, without naming them.
Does this affect flights to or from Fiji?
No Fiji-facing disruption has been reported. The suspension announced by the UAE regulator, as described by FBC News, applies to flights operated by Iranian airlines. It is not reported as applying to Gulf-based carriers, and Fiji Airways’ published route map lists no Iranian or Gulf destination, so no service touching Nadi appears in the affected list. Travellers from Fiji bound for Iran would be using third-country carriers with at least one change outside the Pacific; any effect on those itineraries would be indirect and none has so far been reported.
Is there a primary US government notice behind the sanctions?
None is cited. The FBC News report does not name the US department or agency that issued the measure, does not quote a US official and does not identify the legal instrument used, and it links to no primary notice. This desk has not seen such a notice and is not describing its contents. US sanctions designations are normally published by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in its recent-actions list and announced by the State Department, which is where readers can check the record directly.
Which destinations were still showing on the board at Tehran’s main airport?
According to FBC News, Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport listed scheduled arrivals and departures on Thursday to and from Afghanistan, Armenia, China, Iraq, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey. The report said no flights appeared to be listed to or from the nearby Gulf states. The airport publishes its arrivals and departures board publicly, so that particular claim is checkable in real time.
Have flights between Iran and Iraq stopped completely?
No. FBC News, citing Tasnim, reported that flights to Baghdad had been shut down but that Iranian authorities were working to route flights instead to another Iraqi airport, at Najaf, which the report describes as a major Shi’ite Muslim religious pilgrimage site. Iraq was also among the countries still appearing on the Tehran flight board. FBC News does not say whether the rerouting had begun or whether Iraqi authorities had agreed to it.
Which Iranian airlines are affected, and how many flights?
FBC News names no individual carrier and gives no figure for flights, routes or passengers. The UAE regulator’s suspension is described as covering all flights by Iranian airlines, and Washington’s stated aim, according to the report, is to ground Iran’s entire civil fleet worldwide.
