Persecuted Iraqi Christians under threat from ISIS have been rescued by an American charity.

Glen Beck’s Mercury One hired an Airbus A321 to pluck 149 refugees from the war-torn region.

They were flown 2,130 miles from Erbil, Kurdistan to Kosice, Slovakia following two weeks of intensive planning.

Private charter firm Business Jets, based in Kiev, were chosen for the operation due to their experience in the region.

Business Jets sales manager Julien Z said working on the operation was difficult but rewarding.

”Our biggest satisfaction was to know we probably saved lives back there,” he added.

A team of 4 sales manager worked full time for more than two weeks to make this flight happen.

Business Jets sourced a 150-seat Airbus A-321 directly in Iraq as no European company was ready or had the available asset to fly there.

They then needed clearance from the Iraqi and Slovakian governments.

A Business Jets spokesman said: ”Finding the right person to talk to for obtaining the permits was another challenge. Iraqi regulations were very tough to work around with: to authorize an aircraft to take off, you should have the authorization form both the Iraqi civil aviation authorities and from the local airport whereas in Europe you just need a go from the civil aviation authority. The team finally overcame the difficulties and families were evacuated in an Airbus A-321 to Slovakia.

”As the Iraqi airspace was closed for 48 hours at that time because of Russian rockets being fired from the Caspian Sea to Syria, the original flight had been delayed. During this time, the Business Jets team kept the foundation updated on the situation on the ground.”