Iran opens airspace for international transits after ceasefire with Israel; domestic flights remain partly suspended

Mint

14 hours ago

Iran has expanded access to its airspace for international overflights following a ceasefire with Israel, though flight restrictions remain in place across much of the country, an official said on Saturday.
"In addition to the eastern half of the country's airspace being available for domestic, international and overflight operations, the airspace over the central and western parts of the country has now also been opened only for international overflights," Majid Akhavan, spokesman for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said in a statement carried by the IRNA state news agency, according to an AFP report.
Flights to and from airports in the north, south and west of the country, including Tehran's Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini international airports, remained suspended, according to Akhavan.
The move comes after Iran reopened its eastern airspace on Wednesday, following a ceasefire that ended 12 days of fighting with Israel.
Iran had closed its skies entirely on June 13 after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes, prompting Iranian missile retaliation.
Airports now operating include Mashhad in eastern Iran – which Israel claimed to have targeted during the conflict – as well as Chabahar in the southeast. Flights in other regions remain suspended until further notice, the AFP report added.
India has so far evacuated more than 4,400 Indian nationals from Iran and Israel in 19 special flights under Operation Sindhu launched on June 18 to bring home its citizens amid an ongoing conflict between the two countries, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The evacuated Indian nationals included "more than 1,500 women and 500 children", the MEA said in a statement on Friday.
"The government of India is deeply committed to the safety and well-being of its citizens abroad. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guidance, Operation Sindhu is another demonstration of this commitment," it said.
"We thank the governments of Iran, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Armenia and Turkmenistan for their support during Operation Sindhu. Indian Missions will stay engaged with host governments and the Indian community in Iran, Israel and the wider West Asia region," the MEA added.
A batch of 173 Indians evacuated from Iran reached Delhi late on Thursday night in a flight from Armenian capital Yerevan, the MEA had said in a post on X.
Responding to queries on Operation Sindhu at his weekly media briefing a day before, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi was assessing the situation on the ground and a decision on the future course of action would be taken based on it.
More than 3,400 Indian nationals have so far been evacuated in 14 flights from Iran since the start of Operation Sindhu, according to data shared by Jaiswal during the briefing.