Iranian authorities announced the complete closure of Tehran's airspace on Monday for the main funeral ceremonies of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This exceptional measure aims to secure the funeral procession organized in the capital.
According to the Iranian news agency ISNA, flights will continue as normal in the rest of the country on Sunday, but all air traffic over Tehran will be suspended on Monday. Operations will be halted at Mehrabad International Airport and Imam Khomeini International Airport during public ceremonies.
Authorities have stated that Mehrabad Airport will resume operations on Tuesday, while Imam Khomeini Airport will remain closed. On July 9, the airspace over the northeastern city of Mashhad will also be closed, as will operations at Shahid Hasheminejad International Airport, for the funeral ceremony.
Apart from these restrictions, flights in the rest of Iran will continue as normal on July 7 and 8. Only the Mashhad region will be subject to restrictions on the last day of the funeral.
Ali Khamenei was killed on February 28 in a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran, an event that triggered weeks of war and a sharp escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Funeral ceremonies officially began on Friday, attended by numerous foreign delegations and political leaders from the region.
The official program includes a grand funeral procession in Tehran on Monday, followed by ceremonies in Qom on July 7. The body will then be transferred to Baghdad, Najaf, and Karbala on July 8, before the funeral and burial scheduled for July 9 at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, one of the most important holy sites in Shia Islam.
Community
Comments
Comments are open, but protected against spam. Initial posts and comments containing links undergo manual review.
Be the first to comment on this article.