The UAE suspended all Iranian airline flights until further notice on Thursday, citing Washington’s new sanctions policy. Iran’s Tasnim news agency also reported suspensions to Oman, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Baghdad; authorities were working to reroute flights to Najaf.
Washington announced it would sanction global companies doing business with Iranian airlines after September 23, aiming to ground Iran’s entire civil fleet worldwide. The policy extends US pressure to companies in third countries that deal with Iran.
Tehran’s Imam Khomeini Airport listed no scheduled flights to or from nearby Gulf states on Thursday, although it listed services to countries including China, Pakistan and Turkey. On Wednesday, a senior Iranian official threatened that airports in any regional country complying with the US ban could be made “unusable.”
