ANKARA: Turkish-owned carriers Turkish Airlines and Pegasus have suspended flights to Iran until November 1, local media said on Wednesday, as Iran braces for a promised retaliatory attack by Israel.
Both airlines have canceled flights to multiple Iranian cities including the capital Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan for “security reasons,” Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.
The firms have yet to confirm the decision on their websites and social media.
But Turkish Airlines travel to Iran was showing as “canceled” on the website of Istanbul’s airport, while Pegasus closed online bookings to Iran.
Iran has been bracing for retaliatory attack vowed by Israel after Tehran launched a barrage of around 200 ballistic missiles at Israel on October 1.
Turkish Airlines in August canceled night flights to Tehran, as fears mounted of an escalation in the Middle East, without officially announcing the decision.
Several carriers including German group Lufthansa have stopped flying to Tehran and the Lebanese capital Beirut.
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Turkish Airlines, Pegasus halt flights to Iran until November 1
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Turkish Airlines, Pegasus halt flights to Iran until November 1
- Both airlines have canceled flights to multiple Iranian cities including the capital Tehran
- Turkish Airlines travel to Iran was showing as “canceled” on the website of Istanbul’s airport
UNRWA chief denounces Israeli police’s seizure of agency’s Jerusalem assets
JERUSALEM: The chief of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees denounced the Israeli authorities’ seizure of assets from its east Jerusalem compound on Monday, which police told AFP was part of a debt-collection operation.
“Today in the early morning, Israeli police accompanied by municipal officials forcibly entered the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem,” Philippe Lazzarini said on X.
With trucks and forklifts, the authorities took “furniture, IT equipment and other property,” and the compound’s United Nations flag was replaced with an Israeli one, Lazzarini added.
Lazzarini has been declared persona non grata by Israeli authorities, who banned his agency from operating inside the country early this year.
Israeli police told AFP in a statement that the seizures were “carried out by the Jerusalem municipality as part of a debt-collection procedure.”
“Police are present to secure the municipality’s activity,” the statement said.
Jerusalem police spokesman Dean Elsdunne told AFP that the debt collection was related to the Arnona, an Israeli residence tax that covers municipal services.
But Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the West Bank and east Jerusalem, disputed that assessment.
“There is no debt because the United Nations — and UNRWA is part of the United Nations and is a UN agency — is not required to pay any kind of taxes of that kind under international law and under the law that Israel itself has adopted,” he said.
Under a 1946 convention, the UN and its assets must not be taxed by host countries.
The compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem has been empty of UNRWA staff since January, when the law banning its operations took effect after a months-long battle over its work in the Gaza Strip.
Israel had accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas militants, and the legislation also forbids contact between the agency and Israeli officials.
Though the ban applies in east Jerusalem due to its annexation by Israel, the agency still operates in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
“Whatever action taken domestically, the compound retains its status as a UN premises, immune from any form of interference,” Lazzarini said.
“Today in the early morning, Israeli police accompanied by municipal officials forcibly entered the UNRWA compound in East Jerusalem,” Philippe Lazzarini said on X.
With trucks and forklifts, the authorities took “furniture, IT equipment and other property,” and the compound’s United Nations flag was replaced with an Israeli one, Lazzarini added.
Lazzarini has been declared persona non grata by Israeli authorities, who banned his agency from operating inside the country early this year.
Israeli police told AFP in a statement that the seizures were “carried out by the Jerusalem municipality as part of a debt-collection procedure.”
“Police are present to secure the municipality’s activity,” the statement said.
Jerusalem police spokesman Dean Elsdunne told AFP that the debt collection was related to the Arnona, an Israeli residence tax that covers municipal services.
But Roland Friedrich, UNRWA director for the West Bank and east Jerusalem, disputed that assessment.
“There is no debt because the United Nations — and UNRWA is part of the United Nations and is a UN agency — is not required to pay any kind of taxes of that kind under international law and under the law that Israel itself has adopted,” he said.
Under a 1946 convention, the UN and its assets must not be taxed by host countries.
The compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem has been empty of UNRWA staff since January, when the law banning its operations took effect after a months-long battle over its work in the Gaza Strip.
Israel had accused UNRWA of providing cover for Hamas militants, and the legislation also forbids contact between the agency and Israeli officials.
Though the ban applies in east Jerusalem due to its annexation by Israel, the agency still operates in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
“Whatever action taken domestically, the compound retains its status as a UN premises, immune from any form of interference,” Lazzarini said.
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