Iran has reopened its airspace for both domestic and international flights after a temporary closure due to the conflict with Israel, according to Iran’s state media. The closure was imposed on June 13 after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes.
According to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, Iran’s airspace is now open to international transit flights between 5:00 am and 6:00 pm local time. This includes major airports in the capital Tehran and in other parts of the country.
“Tehran’s Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini international airports, as well as those in the north, east, west and south of the country, have been reopened and are ready to operate flights,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency also confirmed.
Flights from most airports across the country have resumed, except from the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz. Authorities said that flights from those two cities will restart once the needed safety infrastructure is in place.
A day earlier, Iran had closed its central and western airspace to international transit flights. Domestic, international, and transit flights, the rest of the country’s skies were restricted.
AIRSPACE CLOSURE WAS RESPONSE TO ISRAEL TENSIONS
The decision to close Iranian airspace came after Israel launched airstrikes in mid-June, which forced Iranians to retaliate. In response, Iran shut down all its airports and blocked airspace for domestic and international flights. A spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, Majid Akhavan, explained that the closure was made by a civil aviation coordination committee for safety reasons.
“The country’s central and western airspace was closed again to international overflights, but the eastern half remains open,” Akhavan said.
The reopening of airspace began shortly after a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect on June 24. Iran had first allowed flights over its eastern region before expanding access to more parts of the country. However, as tensions kept boiling, Iran once again limited access over some areas last week.
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With inputs from Agencies