srs what? is entirely correct.
The DfT (allegedly) ban all commercial air transport by G-reg aircraft into Iraq. Only they won't tell you that because in a true "Yes Minister" style it's sensitive information that they can't volunteer to AOC holders (I'll probably be arrested now although I added an "allegedly" above because it's just "rumour", oh yes, ahem)). They will however (allegedly) tell you if you do it and they find out though. Their concerns, when pushed, are (allegedly) very airline centric, but then they've never really treated us any differently in what we do or how we do it. They (allegedly) didn't laugh "if" we pointed out that if we came out of there with six passengers, not the five we'd taken in and one of the six was looking a bit dodgy the other passengers would probably ask questions as to who he was...
I guess though that it brings in an argument then I guess about what happens if something goes wrong there and would your insurance say you were operating against regulation - probably if they were up for paying out $30m.
None of the other EU operators are subject to the same (alleged) ban by their version of the DfT, which is daft given how much we've spent on a war there.
There does appear to be a loophole in that if the G-reg operator lands at an airport in Europe, but not in the UK, on the way to the UK then that removes the restriction - although it's arguably not in the spirit of what the DfT are (allegedly) enforcing. Allegedly.
We go in privately frequently (Kurdistan is a lot more peaceful and calm than the rest of Iraq) and is already seeing massive growth in foreign brands - branded hotels springing up, car manufacturers held a car show there last year etc. It's a functional airport with good layers of IATA security; although it's still in an area of hostilities so is probably a bit more risky than Bournemouth. To paraphrase a squaddie "In that regard, it's more like Southampton".
[advert] We go in commercially as well with our other non-EU aircraft, which I will be happy to tell you about if you PM me [/advert]
Please don't arrest me, I'm just trying to help all UK operators follow the law guv.