Iran says airspace to remain closed until Wednesday afternoon
TEHRAN, June 24 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian spokesman said on Tuesday the country's airspace will remain closed until Wednesday afternoon, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Majid Akhavan, spokesman of the Roads and Urban Development Ministry, said the decision was made in light of the recent developments and to ensure the safety of passengers and flights, noting that the flight suspension would remain in effect until 2:00 p.m. local time (10:30 GMT) on Wednesday.
Iran closed its airspace after Israel launched airstrikes on Tehran and other parts of the country on June 13.
A ceasefire between the two sides was declared early Tuesday.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malaysia Sun
an hour ago
- Malaysia Sun
China's poverty eradication role model for other countries: Timor-Leste president
Xinhua 24 Jun 2025, 21:45 GMT+10 KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Xinhua) -- China's poverty eradication efforts will serve as a role model for other countries to follow suit, Jose Ramos-Horta, president of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, has told Xinhua. Speaking following a ceremony to mark the bestowment of an honorary professorship to him by Malaysia's Taylor's University here last week, Ramos-Horta also commended China's progress in food security and the support it has extended to Timor-Leste, particularly in boosting agricultural productivity. During his first state visit to China last July, Ramos-Horta said, he appealed for support in improving the island nation's poverty eradication and agricultural efforts. Noting "We have a strong relationship with China," he said he believes China's expertise can help boost Timor-Leste's efforts in poverty reduction. "And in a very typical Chinese way of doing things -- fast action, talk and act. (Chinese) engineers for water and infrastructure were mobilized," he said, adding that with Chinese support, the agriculture output has increased and can go up even further.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Netanyahu claims historic victory over Iran's nuclear threat in 12-day war
PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel in its 12 days of war with Iran had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its programme. 'We have removed two immediate existential threats to us - the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles,' he said in video remarks issued by his office. 'If anyone in Iran tries to revive this project, we will work with the same determination and strength to thwart any such attempt. I repeat, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.' He called it a historic victory that would stand for generations. He said Israel never had a better friend in the White House than President Donald Trump, whose U.S. military had dropped massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran's underground nuclear sites in an attack over the weekend. 'Our friend President Trump has rallied to our side in an unprecedented way. Under his direction, the United States military destroyed the underground enrichment site at Fordow,' Netanyahu said. He spoke hours after Trump directed stinging criticism at Israel over the scale of strikes Trump said had violated a truce with Iran negotiated by Washington, Israel's closest ally. Netanyahu said Israel's work was unfinished. He cited the war against Iran's ally Hamas in Gaza, where 50 hostages remain in captivity since the Palestinian militant group carried out a surprise attack on October 7, 2023. About 20 are believed to be alive. 'We must complete the campaign against the Iranian axis, defeat Hamas, and bring about the release of all the hostages, both living and dead,' he said.
New Straits Times
an hour ago
- New Straits Times
Iran's 'telegraphed' strikes on Qatari soil paved way to Israel truce
IRAN'S unprecedented strikes on a US base in Qatar were carefully calculated to provide an exit from hostilities with Washington and set up a truce with Israel, according to analysts and an official. Monday's missile launches were signalled well in advance, minimising the risk of injury and giving every opportunity to shoot down the projectiles – resulting in a fireworks display of booms and flashes above Doha. They followed heavy US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities at the weekend, a sudden escalation that raised concerns about how Teheran, after more than a week of exchanges with Israel, would respond. In the event, gas-rich Qatar, 190 kilometres (120 miles) south of Iran across the Gulf, held the answer in the form of Al Udeid, the Middle East's biggest US base and headquarters of its regional command. Targeting a United States base, rather than inciting fury, triggered a calm reaction from President Donald Trump, who thanked Iran for giving "early notice." Qatar condemned the strikes – Iran's first on a Gulf country's territory – but its prime minister said the response would be diplomatic and legal, rather than military. Hours after the attack, Trump announced a ceasefire that both Israel and Iran later said they would accept. A source with knowledge of the talks said Doha had spoken to Teheran and "persuaded" it to stop fighting. Chatham House geopolitics specialist Neil Quilliam said the attack was "clearly limited" and "intended to satisfy Iran's population that its leadership responded forcibly to the US air strikes on Saturday." Iran had promised to inflict "serious, unpredictable consequences" on the US for joining its ally Israel's campaign against the Islamic republic with strikes on three nuclear sites. The wealthy Gulf states, which host a number of US military sites, had been preparing for days for a possible strike by Iran. A week before Qatar was targeted, Bahrain, home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, tested its civil defence sirens. Also last week, dozens of US military aircraft disappeared from the tarmac at Al Udeid, according to satellite images published by Planet Labs PBC and analysed by AFP. In the hours before the attack, the US embassy in Qatar advised Americans there not to go out, with some other Western embassies echoing the warning. Shortly before the strikes, air traffic was suspended over Qatar "as part of a set of precautionary measures", the country's foreign ministry said. Ali Vaez, senior advisor at the International Crisis Group said Iran's action against Qatar was "symbolic" and "calibrated and telegraphed in a way that would not result in any American casualties, so that there is an off-ramp for both sides." According to the source with knowledge of the talks, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani spoke to the Iranians at Washington's request after the strikes. Trump told Qatar's emir that Israel had agreed to a ceasefire, before US Vice President JD Vance spoke to the prime minister "who persuaded Iran to agree to the proposal in a call with the Iranians", the source said. Vaez said the "good relationship between Iran and Qatar is the reason that Iran opted to strike... the Al Udeid base in Qatar." Before the attack, there had been speculation that Iran could target US forces based in Iraq or elsewhere in the region. "I see this as a continuation of Qatar's mediation between Iran and the United States, that it has taken this punch as a means of trying to prevent further escalation," Vaez added. Quilliam said: "While Qatar's official responses to the attacks condemned Iran, it also pushed forward a deeper message about ending conflict in the region."
