The United States has granted a sanctions exemption for Iranian flights to Iraq, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi said Friday. That the U.S. would allow Iran such sanctions relief in such a battleground country is a major concession by the U.S. to Iran.

• The exemption applies to flights from Iran to Najaf, a Shiite holy city in Iraq. Airlines shuttled 12,000 to 13,000 people a day to and from Najaf before the U.S. imposed sanctions last month on Iranian commercial airlines and countries allowing them to operate.

• Now, most Iranian airlines would be allowed to operate up to 40 daily flights between Najaf and cities in Iran. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein publicly thanked the U.S. for “respect for religious freedom” and access to holy sites.

• Not included in the sanctions relief is Mahan Air, an airline widely believed to be a front company for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The exemption comes as the U.S. formally ends its occupation of Iraq on September 30. Iran still maintains a heavy presence in Iraq through the Popular Mobilization Forces (pmf), Shiite militias that are technically part of the Iraqi military but are Islamic terror groups loyal to Iran.

• Prime Minister Zaidi is trying to deepen ties with America while living next to Iran. The flight cutoff had angered Iran-aligned parties and militias inside Iraq.

• Zaidi offered guarantees the flights would not move weapons, sanctioned people or illicit money. Nevertheless, Iran is almost certainly going to use the sanctions exemption as a loophole to continue arming the pmf and engage in other terrorist activities.

Since the 1990s, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has warned that “Iraq has fallen to Iran.” He said this, based on Bible prophecy, back when Saddam Hussein still ruled Iraq as an enemy of Iran. He maintained his forecast when America ousted Hussein in 2003 and exerted direct control over much of the country. Now, it is more than clear Iraq has fallen to Iran. It appears more and more that the U.S. is being forced to accept this reality.