Iran has reopened its airspace to both domestic and international flights, weeks after suspending all aviation operations in the wake of an intense military conflict with Israel and the United States. The decision was announced on Friday by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
The Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini airports in Tehran, alongside other regional terminals across the country, have resumed operations and are prepared to provide flight services. However, the airports at Isfahan and Tabriz remain closed for now and will rejoin the national aviation network once infrastructure repairs are complete.
The airspace closure, which took effect on 13 June, followed a wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting senior Iranian military personnel, prompting immediate retaliatory missile and drone attacks from Tehran.
Further escalation came on 22 June, when American forces joined the Israeli campaign, striking nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow. Iran responded a day later by launching missiles at the United States’ largest airbase in West Asia, located in Qatar. A ceasefire agreement was eventually reached on 24 June, easing tensions between the two adversaries.
Also read: US strikes pushed back Iran’s nuclear plan by two years: Pentagon
Despite the truce, Washington announced a fresh wave of sanctions against Iran’s oil exports on Thursday. The United States accused Iraqi businessman Salim Ahmed Said and his UAE-based firm of smuggling Iranian oil by mixing it with Iraqi crude, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement, “Treasury will continue to target Tehran's revenue sources and intensify economic pressure to disrupt the regime's access to the financial resources that fuel its destabilising activities.”
Iran’s nuclear programme remains a concern for the West. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters that Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon is “closer to two years” away, reaffirming that the recent US strikes had “completely obliterated” key nuclear infrastructure.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s Director General Rafael Grossi said last week that Iran could resume uranium enrichment within months.
Prior to the June conflict, Tehran had been engaged in indirect negotiations with Washington over the nuclear programme and associated sanctions. Italy and Oman previously hosted rounds of dialogue. However, diplomatic progress has stalled following the Israeli strikes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi confirmed Tehran’s rejection of the European Union’s latest offer to revive negotiations, underscoring the depth of mistrust lingering in the aftermath of the recent flare-up.
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