Tehran uses the ongoing crisis in order to boost ties with Qatar and to draw it into own sphere of influence.
The Iranian Mehr News Agency reported that Iran has allowed aircraft of Qatar Airways to cross the Iranian airspace:
Civil Aviation Organization of Iran has provided Qatar Airways with the license to cross the Iranian airspace.
Following the tensions between Arab countries and the ban on Qatari flights to use skies of some Persian Gulf states, the permit was issued by Civil Aviation Organization of Islamic Republic of Iran (CAO.IRI) and at the request of both International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Qatar.
The license became operation on Tuesday morning and Iran’s CAO announced that all possible capacities will be exploited to establish safe and orderly flow of international air traffic inside the region.
The decision for permit issuance was a result of coordination between international emergency coordination teams and ICAO Middle East (MID) Regional Office.
Majority of flights by airlines of Qatar head North Africa or Southern Europe and, prior to recent movements, Qatari aircrafts would first enter the airspace of Saudi Arabia and then Egypt. Now with imposition of air restrictions, flights from Qatar need to pass through Iran, Iraq and Jordan before entering North Africa.
