Iran restricts airspace for many international flights due to US threat

US Aviation Authority Imposes Airspace Restrictions Amid Tensions with Iran

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued notices prohibiting most flights from entering Iranian airspace between two specific time periods on Thursday. The restrictions, which applied to all commercial flights without prior approval from Iran’s Civil Aviation Organisation (CAO), were in effect until the airspace reopened at approximately 7am local time.

According to FlightRadar, an online flight tracking service, only a few aircraft were detected over Iran during this period, with dozens of planes flying around the country’s borders. The FAA and CAO did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reason behind the restrictions.

The airspace closures come amid heightened tensions between the US and Iran following Tehran’s deadly crackdown on antigovernment protests in the country. The US and UK withdrew military personnel from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar earlier this week, after a senior Iranian official warned that Iran would target US forces in the region if an attack were launched.

Iran’s airspace was initially closed twice, with the first closure occurring between 1:45am and 4:00am local time, followed by another closure from 4:44am to 7am. The closures have raised concerns about potential security or military activity in the region, as well as the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.

In 2020, Iran’s air defences shot down a Ukraine International Airlines flight shortly after it took off in Tehran, resulting in the loss of all 176 lives on board. A subsequent report by Iran’s CAO found that the operator of the missile battery had misidentified the Ukrainian aircraft as a hostile object, and that officials had not properly evaluated the risks to commercial planes during periods of heightened tension with the US.

Source: Al Jazeera