Iran Ensures IFTACA of Safety of Passing Flights

Secretary-General of Iranian Air Traffic Controllers Association (Iran ATCA) Ayyub Rezayee Thamrin in his letter to Auld rejected a US warning for flights passing over the Persian Gulf after an intruder American spy drone was shot down over Iran's territorial waters last Thursday. 

“It should be mentioned that the US drone was targeted inside an area that the Islamic Republic of Iran, according to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), had already declared as Danger Area, that is, naturally, civil flights never passes that area,” wrote Rezayee Tharmin. 

“So, the civil flights security was never threatened at the time of the incident,” he added. 

In relevant remarks on Sunday, Spokesman of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization Reza Jafarzadeh stated that foreign airlines had not declared any rerouting from Iranian sky.

"We have not received any report about the change of route or reduction in the passing flights by foreign airlines," Jafarzadeh told FNA.

He added that the foreign airlines prefer to use the Iranian airspace given its cost-effective nature and high security.

Jafarzadeh explained that after the Iranian Armed Forces shot down a US spy drone over the country's territorial waters, Washington attempted to display Iran's airspace as insecure through the ban placed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on US carriers' flight through Iranian airspace, adding that downing of the spy drone is no way related to the operation of passenger flights.

"All the world states admit that Iran's airspace and sky is secure," he said.

Also, on Saturday, Managing-Director of Iran Airports Company Siavash Amir Mokri blasted the FAA for banning the US carriers from Iranian airspace following the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)'s shooting down of a US spy drone, stressing that Iran's sky was safe and open to all passing flights.

"Iran's airspace has for several times been named as the safest sky of the region to the world by international aviation bodies," Amir Mokri said.

He added that Iran had several times and on different conditions proved its practical commitment to international obligations and its capability to provide a safe, efficient and effective air traffic control service.

Amir Mokri underscored the safety of Iran's airspace, and called on all airline companies to continue flights through Iranian skies with no concern and similar to the past.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has been and is committed to all its international undertakings, including protecting the safety of passing commercial flights via its airspace," he added.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force shot down an American spy drone over the territorial waters of Iran near the Strait of Hormuz at dawn last Thursday.

The United States had confirmed that one of its reconnaissance planes was shot down by Iranian air defenses, but denied that it intruded into Tehran’s airspace at the time.