Iran bans pagers, walkie talkies on planes after blasts targeting Hezbollah members

Move comes almost a month since Lebanese terror group members’ pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in attack blamed on Israel

A man holds a walkie-talkie device with the logo of Japanese firm Icom, after he removed the battery during the funeral of persons killed when pagers distributed to Hezbollah operatives exploded across Lebanon the previous day, in an attack blamed on Israel, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18, 2024. (Anwar Amro/AFP)
A man holds a walkie-talkie device with the logo of Japanese firm Icom, after he removed the battery during the funeral of persons killed when pagers distributed to Hezbollah operatives exploded across Lebanon the previous day, in an attack blamed on Israel, in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18, 2024. (Anwar Amro/AFP)

Iran has banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all flights, local media reported Saturday, almost a month after deadly sabotage attacks on Hezbollah members in Lebanon which were blamed on Israel.

“The entry of any electronic communication device, except mobile phones, on flight cabins or…in non-accompanied cargo, has been banned,” ISNA news agency reported, citing the spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization Jafar Yazerlo.

The decision came in the wake of sabotage attacks targeting members of the Iran-allied Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon that saw pagers and walkie-talkies explode in two waves on September 17 and 18, killing at least 39 people.

Lebanon said nearly 3,000 others were wounded in the attack, which Iran and Hezbollah blamed on Israel. The tolls did not differentiate between civilians and members of the terror group, and the wounded also included Tehran’s ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani. A Hezbollah official told Reuters a week later that the attacks put 1,500 of its fighters out of commission due to their injuries, with many having been blinded or had their hands blown off.

Israel has not taken responsibility for the explosions.

Earlier this month, Dubai-based airline Emirates banned pagers and walkie-talkies onboard its planes.

An Emirates Airlines plane lands at Dubai International Airport in Dubai on October 17, 2023. (Karim Sahib/AFP)

Multiple airlines have in recent weeks suspended flights to Iran following Tehran’s missile attack on Israel on October 1.

Iran fired some 200 missiles at Israel after the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July, which the Islamic Regime blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on September 27 in Beirut, for which Israel did claim responsibility.

The October 1 ballistic missile attack killed a Palestinian in the West Bank and caused minor damage to property around Israel. The IDF admitted that some military bases were hit but insisted that there was no harm to its operational capabilities.

Israel has since vowed to retaliate, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying the response against Iran would be “lethal, precise and surprising.”

Regional tensions have soared since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October last year after the Hamas terrorist organization launched a massive attack on Israel, murdering some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

The war has also drawn the involvement of other Iran-supported terrorist organizations with Hezbollah beginning near-daily drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel which it said was in solidarity with Hamas.

Meanwhile, the Houthis in Yemen and Iran-supported groups in Iraq have launched drones and rockets at Israel, and the former has consistently attacked ships related to Israel and its allies in the Red Sea, forcing ships in the area to use alternate routes.

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