Iran reopens airspace to domestic, foreign, transit flights
04 Jul 2025 01:06pm
Traffic moves past a large banner depicting Iranian commanders and scientists killed in Israeli strikes during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, at Tajrish Square in the capital Tehran on June 30, 2025. Iran warned on June 29 that it had little faith in Israel's commitment to a fragile ceasefire that ended the most intense and destructive confrontation between the two foes to date. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
TEHRAN - Iran on Thursday reopened its airspace to domestic, foreign and international transit flights, announced the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, reported Xinhua.
The decision was made following the approval of the Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran as well as precise security and safety assessments, given the country's present circumstances, the ministry said in a statement published on its website. Destroyed cars sit at the parking lot Evin prison after Israeli air strikes the previous month, in Tehran, on July 1, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
It added that flights had been resumed to and from the Mehrabad International Airport and Imam Khomeini International Airport in the capital Tehran as well as airports in the northern, eastern, western and southern parts of the country, except those in Isfahan and Tabriz in central and northwestern Iran, respectively.
According to the statement, airports in Tehran as well as the northern, western and southern parts are now operating domestic and foreign flights from 5am to 1800 local time (0130 to 1430 GMT).
It said the eastern airspace was open to domestic, foreign and international transit flights around the clock, adding the airspace in the central and western parts would be open to international passing flights.
The ministry gave an assurance that the airports in Isfahan and Tabriz would resume operations immediately after the infrastructure is prepared.
Iran closed its airspace on June 13 following Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and other areas. After a 12-day aerial conflict, the two countries achieved a ceasefire on June 24. - BERNAMA-XINHUA
More Like This
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
17 minutes ago
- The Star
Where do trade talks stand in the rush to avert higher US tariffs?
WASHINGTON (AFP): As a Wednesday deadline approaches for steeper US tariffs to hit dozens of economies ranging from the EU to India, trade negotiations with President Donald Trump's administration are coming down to the wire. The levies taking effect July 9 were announced in April, with the White House citing a lack of "reciprocity" in trade relations. But they were swiftly halted, allowing room for talks. Days before their reimposition, where do things stand? - EU: 'Ready' for deal - The European Union said it is "ready for a deal" with Washington, with the bloc's trade chief meeting his US counterparts Thursday. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU was targeting an "agreement in principle" when it came to the July 9 cutoff. With no deal, the US tariff on EU goods doubles from the "baseline" of 10 percent to 20 percent -- with Trump previously threatening a 50 percent level. - Vietnam: A pact with uncertainties - Washington and Hanoi unveiled a trade pact Wednesday with much fanfare and few details, but it allowed Vietnam to avoid Trump's initial 46 percent tariff. Under the agreement, Vietnamese goods face a minimum 20 percent tariff while products made elsewhere face a 40 percent levy -- a clause to restrict "transshipping" by Chinese groups. But there remain questions on how the higher levy would apply to products using foreign parts. There is also a risk that Beijing will adopt retaliatory measures, analysts warned. - Japan: Rice, autos at stake - Despite being a close US ally and major source of foreign investment, Japan might not escape Trump's tariff hike. Tokyo's trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa has made numerous trips to Washington through the end of June. But Trump recently criticized what he described as Japan's reluctance to open up further to US rice and auto exports. "I'm not sure we're going to make a deal," Trump said, adding that the country could pay a tariff of "30 percent, 35 percent, or whatever the number is that we determine." - India: A good position - Indian manufacturers and exporters want to believe they can avoid a 26 percent tariff. Negotiations between both countries have been going well for weeks, and Trump himself suggested at the end of June that a "very big" agreement was imminent. Ajay Sahai, director general of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said the feedback he received "suggests positive developments." But he maintained that the situation was fluid. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stressed that agriculture and dairy products remain "very big red lines." - South Korea: Muted optimism - Seoul, which is already reeling from US tariffs on steel and autos, wants to avert a sweeping 25 percent levy on its other exports. Cooperation in shipbuilding could be a bargaining chip, but "at this stage, both sides still haven't clearly defined what exactly they want," said new President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday. "I can't say with confidence that we'll be able to wrap everything up by July 8," he added. - Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan in the wings - Other Asian economies including Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, which faces a 49 percent tariff, wait with bated breath. Indonesia has indicated willingness to boost energy, agriculture and merchandise imports from the United States. Bangladesh meanwhile is proposing to buy Boeing planes and step up imports of US agriculture products. Taiwan, for whom Washington is a vital security partner, faces a 32 percent duty without a pact. Although both sides have faced bumps along the way, Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim said "negotiators from both sides are working diligently" to find a path forward. - Switzerland: Hope for delay - Switzerland's government said Washington has acknowledged it was acting in good faith, and assumes its tariff level will remain at 10 percent on July 9 while negotiations continue. But without a decision by the president as of the end of June, Switzerland did not rule out that levies could still rise to a promised 31 percent. - AFP
New Straits Times
36 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
West Bank town becomes a 'big prison'
A 5M-HIGH metal fence slices across the eastern edge of Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Heavy steel gates and roadblocks seal off all but a single route in and out of the town, watched over by Israeli soldiers at guard posts. "Sinjil is now a big prison," said Mousa Shabaneh, 52, a father of seven, watching on in resignation as workers erected the fence through the middle of the nursery on the edge of the town where he planted trees for sale, his sole source of income. "Of course, we're now forbidden from going to the nursery. All the trees I had were burned and lost," he said. "In the end, they cut off our livelihood." Walls and checkpoints erected by Israeli forces have long been a part of day-to-day life for the nearly three million Palestinian residents of the West Bank. Many now say that a dramatic increase in such barriers since the start of the war in Gaza has put towns and villages in a state of permanent siege. The fence around Sinjil is a particularly stark example of barriers that have sprung up across the territory, becoming an overwhelming feature of daily life. The people who live there now have to walk or drive through narrow, winding streets to a sole allowed entry point. Some cross road closures on foot to reach cars on the other side. Those who once earned their livelihoods in the surrounding land are effectively cut off, said Bahaa Foqaa, the deputy mayor. The fence had enclosed 8,000 residents inside barely 10 acres, cutting them off from 2,000 acres of surrounding land which they privately own. "This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people." Some 700,000 Israelis now reside in territory Israel captured in 1967. Most countries consider such communities a violation of the Geneva Conventions which ban settling civilians on occupied land. After decades during which Israel paid lip service to the prospect of an independent Palestinian state, the far-right Israeli government now includes prominent settler activists who openly proclaim their aim to annex the entire West Bank. Israel increased its military presence in the West Bank immediately after Hamas' surprise attack in October 2023, which precipitated war that has devastated the other main Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip. Overnight, mounds of earth and heavy boulders were placed on roads. Then heavy metal gates, usually painted yellow or orange, were installed and locked by the military at entrances to Palestinian communities, often leading to roads also used by settlers. The military established new permanent checkpoints. So-called flying checkpoints, set up suddenly and without warning, became more frequent. Sana Alwan, 52, who lives in Sinjil and works as a personal trainer, said what was once a short drive to Ramallah can now take as long as three hours each way, with no way of knowing at the start of the day how long she will be stuck at checkpoints. Work has slowed because she can no longer promise clients she can reach them. "Half of our life is on the roads," she said. While the West Bank has largely been spared the all-out assault waged in Gaza, life has grown increasingly precarious. A ban on entering Israel for work abruptly cut off the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers. At the start of this year, tens of thousands of West Bank residents were displaced by an Israeli crackdown on fighters in Jenin in the north. Mohammad Jammous, 34, who grew up in Jericho and lives in Ramallah, used to see his family almost every week. With the hour-long drive now typically stretching to several hours each way, he says he visits only once a month. Officials in the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, suspect that the stifling impact on the economy and ordinary life is intentional. "They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said last month.
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Russian air defences shoot down four drones headed for Moscow, mayor says
FILE PHOTO: Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia May 5, 2025. Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo (Reuters) -Russian air defences shot down four Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow on Saturday, the city's mayor said, while one of the capital's main airports temporarily halted outgoing flights. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said emergency services were working at the sites of the downed drones, but gave no information on potential damage. The Defence Ministry said 94 drones had been destroyed over Russia overnight on Saturday and 45 more between 0800 MSK (0400 GMT) and 1350 MSK. Outgoing flights at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport were temporarily paused on Saturday before they were later lifted, Russia's Rosaviatsia aviation authority said, citing "restrictions" over the capital's airspace as well as strong winds. Rosaviatsia said incoming and outgoing flights at airports in several other Russian cities were also temporarily halted, including at St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, citing safety concerns. (Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Jan Harvey)
