Iraq Restricts Airspace Nov 7–11 as US Asks It to Close All but Two Iran Border Crossings

Iraq has issued temporary airspace restrictions from November 7 to 11, citing military operations. An aviation notification (NOTAM) sets the restrictions daily between 05:00 and 11:00 UTC.

The restrictions affect flight operations across Iraqi airspace, including routes serving Baghdad, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk.

Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the United States has formally asked Iraq to close all of its border crossings with neighboring Iran except two. Hussein also said Iraqi authorities have evidence that foreign parties are using Iraqi territory to carry out attacks on neighboring countries, raising concerns over Iraq's sovereignty and regional security. He warned that current conditions point to the possibility of further conflict in the region, as Iraq faces growing pressure from tensions between Iran and the United States.

Restrictions confined to a fixed six-hour morning window, repeated over five days, work differently from a full closure. Flights can still operate outside the window, so the effect falls on scheduling and routing rather than on whether Iraqi airspace is usable at all.

The airspace notice and the foreign minister's remarks arrive together, and both tie the measures to rising tension between Iran and the United States. For operators that overfly or serve Iraq, the practical consequence is that timing of departures and arrivals near those hours needs checking against the NOTAM, and the cities named in it are the ones most directly exposed.

The next concrete marker is November 11, when the stated restrictions end. Whether a new notification follows, and whether the border-crossing request is acted on, are the points that would show if this is a one-off window or part of a longer pattern.