The UK terminates flights to and from Iran

The UK, along with the US, France and Germany, have stopped flights to Iran because of the country’s part in supplying ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine. Iran has denied supplying self-guided missiles to Russia.

The new sanctions mean a halt on the national air carrier, Iran Air, flying to the UK and Europe. The carrier currently flies to London from Tehran three times a week.

The UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, and the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, said at a joint press conference that Iran’s move to supply the missiles was a “significant and dangerous escalation” with Blinken adding that Vladimir Putin was “increasingly relying on support” from Iran and North Korea to help “wage his war of aggression on Ukraine”.

Additional sanctions have been put on five Russian cargo ships for transporting the supplies from Iran, despite the UK giving repeated warnings not to do so.

Iran has called the statements “false and misleading”.

Recently, Paul Trotter, Security and Intelligence Lead at World Travel Protection, spoke to ITIJ about geopolitical risks and the fallout on neighbouring countries.