Gulf diplomatic crisis: Iran opens airspace to Qatar passenger planes as Saudi-led ban continues

Tehran: Iran has opened its airspace to the passenger planes of Qatar over the past days, media report said on Saturday. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has issued the permission for the flights over the Islamic republic space as they are banned from Saudi, Egyptian and UAE airspaces after a diplomatic row between Qatar and the Arab countries, Xinhua cited Tasnim news agency as saying. Qoliollah Qolizadeh, a member of the presiding board of the parliament’s civil commission said that the Qatari authorities coordinated the issue with Iran’s Foreign Ministry and got the required permissions from the SNSC. Some Arab allies of Saudi Arabia recently closed their airspace to the Qatari planes after they cut diplomatic ties with the country, accusing the latter of supporting terrorism.