Iran airports reopen after attack on Israel: state media

TEHRAN: Airports in Tehran and elsewhere in Iran resumed operations Monday, state media said, after a temporary suspension due to an aerial attack on Israel that heightened regional tensions.

Flights were suspended after Iran launched late Saturday its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory, using drones and missiles, in retaliation for a deadly April 1 air strike on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus which was widely attributed to Israel.

The official IRNA news agency reported that “flights at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran were back to normal as of 6:00 am (0230 GMT).”

IRNA said the domestic Mehrabad airport in Tehran and others across the country including Tabriz in the northwest, Mashhad in the northeast and Shiraz in the south are all “operating as scheduled”.

The Iranian attack and fears of a potential Israeli reprisal have led some airlines to suspend flights to the region.

Israel has not revealed what its response could look like.

German airline Lufthansa has suspended its flights to and from Iran, while others including Australian airline Qantas rerouted planes to avoid Iran’s airspace.

The attack also prompted several countries in the Middle East including Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq to close their airspace overnight Saturday to Sunday, but all have reopened.