Iran’s Supreme National Security Council denied on Saturday, 26 September 2026, that Tehran intends to resort to a military response to address restrictions imposed on its air traffic, stressing that the country has non-military options that can be implemented if necessary.
Iran favours negotiations to lift air restrictions
In a statement, the council said Iran was holding negotiations with the countries concerned with the aim of lifting the air restrictions, which it described as illegal. It said the measures were currently being addressed through negotiations, while other options that did not involve military action remained available.
The council’s position followed remarks by Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who said on Friday that if Tehran was unable to operate flights and obtain airport services, no one in the region would be able to obtain them either, according to his statement.
Iraqi flights suspended amid US threats
Mokhber wrote on his account on the X platform: "Our strategy is clear: either air travel in the region is available to everyone or it is available to no one," hinting at the possibility of reciprocal measures in response to the restrictions facing Iranian airlines. The remarks coincided with Iraqi airports suspending flights to and from Iran, amid US pressure and threats to impose sanctions on any airport providing services to Iranian airlines.
Nour al-Din al-Daghir, the Tehran bureau chief of a news channel, said that some parties inside Iran were proposing the principle of reciprocal action by taking measures against aircraft from countries that prevent Iranian aircraft from flying in their airspace. He added that Iranian legal experts believed targeting civilian airports in the region contravened international rules and laws.
Several countries have suspended flights by Iranian airlines to and from their territories. At the same time, small Iranian airlines continue to operate international flights, particularly to China, which refused to respond to US pressure, as well as flights to Armenia.
