Ghassan Ashour, a Middle East affairs analyst, said the suspension of flights between Iran and Iraq and then their limited resumption indicates that the Iraqi prime minister is creating a kind of deal-making with Tehran and Washington. According to him, Baghdad gained a major concession by stopping Iranian flights and then, by allowing Iraqi flights from Najaf to Iran, gave Tehran a limited concession.

Ashour added that Iraq’s request to the United States for a limited exemption for Iranian flights to Najaf could be a response to pressure from groups close to the Islamic Republic. In his view, with this move the Iraqi prime minister could, if the United States objects, shift responsibility to Washington, and if the United States agrees, present it as an advantage for Tehran and its allies in Iraq.