Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air has announced that it plans to resume its flights to Iraq as soon as possible. This decision follows the agreement made between the governments of Bahrain and Iraq on July 9, allowing the national carriers of the two countries to operate direct services between Bahrain and four cities in Iraq. A total of seven weekly flights have been authorized to operate from Bahrain to Baghdad and 12 weekly flights to Najaf. Gulf Air first started flying to Iraq's capital Baghdad in 1976.