6 Squadron RAF flew out from the Suez Canal Zone to Shaibah on 17 June 1951, during a period of high tensions with Iran - the Abadan crisis over oil nationalisation.

By that date the AOC was responsible for Amman, Aquabah, and Mafraq in Jordan; Habbaniya, Baghdad, Basrah, Mosul, Shaibah, and Ser Amadia in Iraq; Sharjah and Bahrain lower down the Gulf; and Mauripur in Pakistan (Lee FFME 94-95).

The stations at Bahrain and Sharjah, along with the staging post at Mauripur were transferred to the control of HQ British Forces Aden.

32 Squadron returned west to Takali in Malta in October, after only ten months in Iraq.

6 Squadron remained past the departure of the merging AHQ, only leaving Habbaniya on 6 April 1956.

[6] One of the two main stations in Iraq, RAF Shaibah, was handed over to Iraqi control on 1 March 1956.

[7] Past this point, under the auspices of the Baghdad Pact, the RAF retained staging posts at Habbaniya and Basra; two signals units; and a skeleton maintenance unit at Habbaniya, to victual the flow of aircraft on their way to the Far East (Lee FFME 106).

The RAF maintained a presence in Iraq until mid-1959; all personnel were withdrawn from Habbaniya on 31 May, and those from Basra on 8 June (Lee FFME 106).