MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Tehran has suspended all flights to the Iraqi capital, including pilgrimage flights to holy shrines, amid unrests caused by the formation of a new government, Saeed Ohadi, the chief of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, said Sunday.
"In coordination with [Iranian] airlines, we decided to transfer flights to holy shrines, which were scheduled to be made to the Baghdad airport, to the city of Najaf since today so that the pilgrims will face no problem," Ohadi said, as quoted by the Press TV broadcaster.
The protests were triggered by the Iraqi parliament experiencing a split and rescheduling the vote on candidates for the new government for next week. The parliament break-in caused Iraqi President Fuad Masum to convene an emergency session of Iraqi lawmakers on Sunday.
