Iran postpones full airspace reopening till Saturday

Tehran, June 27 (IANS) Iran has postponed the full reopening of its airspace until Saturday afternoon, the official news agency IRNA reported on Friday.

The decision was made to ensure the safety and security of passengers and flights and in view of the reopening of the country's eastern airspace to domestic and international flights, the IRNA quoted Spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development Majid Akhavan as saying.

He said the country's airspace in the northern, southern and western parts will remain closed until 14:00 local time on Saturday (1030 GMT).

The ministry had announced on Wednesday night the reopening of its eastern airspace, saying the move aimed to gradually restore air traffic to pre-conflict levels, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iran closed its airspace on June 13 following Israeli airstrikes on Tehran and other areas. Following a 12-day aerial conflict, a ceasefire between the two sides was achieved on Tuesday.

Earlier on Thursday, Iran had announced the closure of its northern, southern, and western airspace will remain in effect.

"In view of the reopening of Iran's eastern airspace to domestic and international flights, the country's airspace in the northern, southern and western parts will remain closed until 14:00 local time on Friday (1030 GMT)," IRIB quoted Spokesman of Iran's Roads and Urban Development Ministry Majid Akhavan as saying.

Earlier in the day, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced that its 12-day military operation against Iran resulted in significant damage to three of the country’s main nuclear facilities, Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, dealing a major blow to the Iranian regime’s nuclear infrastructure.

The IDF asserted that Israel launched ‘Operation Rising Lion’ on June 13 intending to damage the Iranian nuclear and missile projects following the identification of progress in the three programmes whose ultimate goal was to “destroy the State of Israel”.

--IANS

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