Iran says it doesn’t plan to attack neighbors’ airports in response to US bans

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has rejected speculation that the country may target airports in neighboring states in response to their compliance with US sanctions and bans on flights to and from Iran.

In a Saturday statement, the SNSC described quotes and interpretations drawn from a recent interview by its chief, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, suggesting Iran might attack airports in neighboring countries as untrue.

The claim that Iran may decide to retaliate against the recent aviation restrictions is rejected, the statement said.

It said Iran has been negotiating with neighboring countries to persuade them to lift the restrictions, which followed US threats to impose sanctions on any country handling flights to and from Iran.

The statement added, however, that Iran has many civilian options to retaliate against the recent bans, which could be imposed on certain airports in neighboring countries, while insisting the issue could be resolved so those restrictions become unnecessary.

Rezaei said in an interview earlier this month that Iran would not stand idle while its airlines are banned from operating in neighboring countries. He said that if Iranian flights are barred from neighbors’ airports, those airports would also be rendered inoperable, without directly saying Iran might attack them.

The comments come amid Iran’s ongoing fight against a military aggression that began in late February by the United States and the Israeli regime and has continued intermittently over the past months.

Iran has launched massive attacks on military sites run by the US in neighboring countries and on assets in which the US is a major shareholder.