Iran closes airspace, says Flightradar24
And Flightradar24 is now saying that Iran is closing its airspace to all flights except international flights to and from Iran with permission.
The advisory is valid for a little more than two hours, Flightradar24 said.
Key events
Iran extends airspace closure
Iran further extended an order closing its airspace to commercial aircraft without explanation early on Thursday.
A notice to pilots said the closure was estimated to last until 7.30am local time, the AP is reporting. A previous order had closed the airspace for just over two hours.
The Iranian government offered no explanation of the decision to shut its airspace as tensions with the US remained over Tehran’s protest crackdown.
Trump casts doubt on whether Pahlavi has support to rule Iran
Donald Trump has said Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi “seems very nice” but expressed uncertainty over whether Pahlavi would be able to muster support within Iran to eventually take over.
The US president also told Reuters there was a chance Iran’s clerical government could collapse.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in support of the protests against clerical rule but was reluctant on Wednesday to lend his full support to Pahlavi, the son of the late shah of Iran, who was ousted from power in 1979.
“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump said in an Oval Office interview with the news agency. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet.
I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me.
Trump’s comments went further in questioning Pahlavi’s ability to lead Iran after saying last week that he had no plans to meet with him.
The US-based Pahlavi, 65, has lived outside Iran since before his father was toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has become a prominent voice in the protests.
Iran’s stopped killing protesters, Trump says he has been told
Donald Trump says he has been assured the killing of Iranian protesters has been halted, while adding he will “watch it and see” about threatened US military action.
The president said at the White House that “very important sources on the other side” had also now assured him that Iranian executions would not go ahead, Agence France-Presse is reporting.
“They’ve said the killing has stopped and the executions won’t take place,” Trump said.
There were supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won’t take place – and we’re going to find out.
He gave no details and noted the US had yet to verify the claims.
Asked if US military action was now off the table, Trump replied: “We’re going to watch it and see what the process is.”
As reported earlier, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi later told Fox News that “hanging is out of the question”, saying there would “no hanging today or tomorrow”.
“I can tell you, I’m confident that there is no plan for hanging,” he said, while accusing Israel of orchestrating violence, without providing evidence.
Air India has said some of its flights are being cancelled amid the Iranian airspace closure and that there could be delays on other flights that are now using alternative routes.
The airline also said passengers should check the status of their flights on its website before heading to the airport.
The airline said in a post on X:
Due to the emerging situation in Iran, the subsequent closure of its airspace, and in view of the safety of our passengers, Air India flights overflying the region are now using an alternative routing, which may lead to delays. Some Air India flights where currently rerouting is not possible are being cancelled.
US warns its citizens to be cautious in Qatar
The US has issued a travel warning advising American citizens in Qatar to show “increased caution” there and to limit non-essential travel to the al-Udeid military base.
The US and UK have evacuated some personnel from the military base in Qatar amid concerns Washington could soon launch military action against Iran, as we reported earlier today.
A short while ago, the US state department issued a new security alert, saying and posting on X:
Given ongoing regional tensions, the U.S. Embassy in Doha has advised its personnel to exercise increased caution and limit non-essential travel to Al Udeid Airbase.
We recommend U.S. citizens in Qatar do the same.
The U.S. Mission to Qatar continues to monitor the situation.
Iran hit the al-Udeid base in June in a largely symbolic strike after the US attacked Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities.
Tehran has ‘no plan’ for hangings over protests, says foreign minister
Abbas Araghchi has said “there is no plan” by Iran to hang people in relation to the anti-government protests.
“There is no plan for hanging,” Iran’s foreign minister told Fox News. “Hanging is out of the question,” he said, cited by Reuters.
Hanging has been a common method for execution in Iran.
Iran closes airspace, says Flightradar24
And Flightradar24 is now saying that Iran is closing its airspace to all flights except international flights to and from Iran with permission.
The advisory is valid for a little more than two hours, Flightradar24 said.
Further to that, live tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows airlines avoiding Iranian airspace.
At the time of writing, for instance, only four commercial planes can be seen in the skies above Iran. And a number of planes, such as those highlighted here, appear to have turned around.
German airline Lufthansa has said it will bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace “until further notice”, Agence France-Presse is reporting.
The group, which includes Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Discover, Eurowings, Swiss and ITA Airways, said in a statement that it was bypassing the airspace “due to the current situation in the Middle East”.
Earlier we reported that the airline had become the first major carrier to signal a significant pullback from Israel’s skies, telling staff to prepare for an exit from the country and announcing a wide suspension of flights amid growing safety concerns in the region.
Execution of Erfan Soltani postponed, family says
Deepa Parent
A cousin of Erfan Soltani has told the Guardian that she received a call from his family telling her that the Iranian prison authorities said he had not been executed yet and that his execution is postponed without giving any further details.
The family told the cousin, Somayeh, that they have neither heard from Erfan nor seen him to confirm the claim, she added.
Trump says US will ‘watch and see’ before taking military action in Iran off table
More from the Oval Office earlier, where Donald Trump declined to take military action against Iran off the table, telling reporters that while he had been informed that Iran has “no plan for executions”, his administration will wait and see.
“We’re going to watch and see what the process is,” he said, adding that he’s been given “a very good statement by people that are aware of what’s going on”.
Earlier in the event, Trump said he’d be “very upset” if the regime moved forward with executing protesters, but suggested he’d been told that they are not taking place (see my earlier post).
Lorenzo Tondo
Despite the heightened threats of recent hours, the situation appears to be slowly de-escalating. According to Haaretz, Israeli officials have signalled to their Iranian counterparts that Israel would not carry out a pre-emptive strike provided it was not attacked first.
The message was conveyed through a Russian communication channel, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. Diplomats and regional officials cited by the newspaper said Iran responded in kind, indicating it would also refrain from launching a pre-emptive attack.
It remains unclear whether the wave of protests that has swept Iran in recent weeks has altered either side’s calculations, or whether the informal understanding between the two countries is still holding, the report said.
Iranian foreign minister says government ‘in full control’
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said the government was in full control, as authorities carry out their most severe repression of protests in years.
“After three days of terrorist operation, now there is a calm. We are in full control,” Araghchi told US broadcaster Fox News’ “Special Report” program.
Lucy Hough speaks to journalist Deepa Parent about what she is hearing from those inside Iran in this video from our Today in Focus team:
Donald Trump has been asked questions about the situation in Iran during his signing of executive orders in the White House. My colleague Shrai Popat has further updates in our US politics live blog here:
